WILKES-BARRE, PA – Despite a ferocious comeback attempt in the final minute and a half, the Colonels fell just short to the Bullets 69-66 on Tuesday afternoon.  Gettysburg was a perfect 6-for-6 from the foul line in the final minute of play helping seal the victory and not allowing Wilkes to inch closer than they already had. 

Wilkes concludes their 2014 portion of the season with a 6-4 record while Gettysburg improves to 6-3 heading into the New Year.

The Colonels opened up an early 12-5 advantage barely five minutes into the game thanks in part to some hot three-point shooting.  Steve Stravinski (Pittston, PA/Pittston), Mason Gross (Hughestown, PA/Pittston) and Jeremy Hartman (Little Egg Harbor, NJ/Pinelands Regional) all hit three's for the Colonels who made 3-out-of-6 attempts to start the game.  At the 12:30 mark in the first half Zachary Brunner (Mechanicsburg, PA/Mechanicsburg) scored a layup to put the Colonels up 20-15.  From that moment in the game the Colonels hit a funk and went scoreless for the next seven minutes allowing the Bullets to take a 22-20 lead before Cameron Hinkel (Millerstown, PA/Greenwood) tied the score at 22-22 with 5:18 to go in the half.

The teams exchanged buckets over the remaining five minutes of the half with Stravinski giving Wilkes a slight 30-29 halftime advantage after he hit a jumper with 1:45 to play in the first half.

Wilkes made 39.3% (11-28) of their field goal attempts in the first half and shot 35.7% (5-14) from distance.  Stravinski had the hot hand for the Colonels scoring 11 points including three 3-pointers.  Gettysburg shot 37.5% (9-24) from the field and 33.3% (3-9) from deep while also making 8-out-of-9 foul shot attempts in the first 20 minutes of action.  Tanner Kirkpatrick was the leading point getter for the Bullets pouring in 14.

At the start of the second half Colonels Alec Wizar (Lebanon, PA/Annville Cleona) drilled a 3-pointer followed by a good jumper from Tyler Jackson (Cresskill, NJ/Cresskill) that opened up a 35-29 lead for Wilkes with 17:12 to go in the game.  Gettysburg fought right back thanks to five points from Cody Kieffer as the Bullets went on a 7-0 run to give themselves a 36-35 lead with 15:05 remaining on the clock.  The two teams would exchange baskets over the next eight minutes of play with both teams making clutch shots. 

Hinkel put the Colonels up 49-45 when he drove to the lane scoring a layup and getting fouled on the play.  He completed the and-one with the foul shot with 7:32 left on the clock.
Gettysburg fought right back and took a seven point lead with a 16-5 run over a six minute span that saw them lead 61-54 with 1:30 to go in the contest.  Wilkes fought hard over the final minute and clawed themselves right back into a one possession game and could have possibly had a shot for the win if Gettysburg would have missed a few foul shots.  The Bullets were perfect from the line and despite two desperate 3-pointers made by Stravinski a last second half court shot to tie the game by Wizar clanged off the backboard sealing the Bullets win.

The Colonels shot 41.1% (23-56) for the game and 36% (9-25) from 3-point range while making 11-out-of-13 foul shot attempts.  Stravinski led the team with 19 points and five good 3-pointers.  Hinkel chipped in with 14 points and Brunner followed with 12 points and five boards.

The Bullets shot 68.4% (13-19) from the field in the second half and finished the game making over half their field goals 22-for-43 (51.2%).  They made 37.5% (6-16) of their foul shots and 73.1% (19-26) of their shots from the charity stripe.  Kirkpatrick led all-scorers with 24 points, Sean Gordon chipped in with 15 points, six boards and four assists while Kiefer finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.

Wilkes returns to action on Friday when they play Marywood at King's College in the first game of the Cross-County Challenge.  Friday's game against Marywood will also be televised live locally on WQMY-TV, My Net TV (Comcast channel 811 HD, Service Electric  channel 504HD,  Direct TVHD channel 53, Dish Network channel 53, over the air channel 53.1) with Bob Ide and Doug Walsh on the call.  Tip-off is slated for 6:00 p.m.