Men’s and Women’s Hoops Down Muhlenberg

By Kim Tenure

Talk about a nail biter. That’s about all I can say regarding the men’s and women’s basketball games on Saturday, February 5th. Both Gettysburg teams played exceptionally well against Muhlenberg. The final scores were 56-53 for the men’s team, and 58-53 for the women’s. Muhlenberg rode home especially disappointed, since a couple baskets either way could have reversed the outcome in both games.

In watching both the men’s and the women’s games there are subtle differences in the manner of the men’s team compared to those of the women’s game. Not to necessarily say one was better; just different. First the stands were a lot more packed for the men’s game. Whether it was people visiting or people rushing out to get ready for Snowball, the crowd thinned by the time the girls’ took to the court; the men’s game attracted 511 while the women’s had only 250. The high volume of spectators that even showed up though, could also be attributed to it being a Saturday and also Snowball. Also, just the overall energy and pace of the game seem to be a lot faster for the men, but, I’m no expert.

But now back to the game. The guys had a lot of sharp passes, especially under the net. They clearly anticipated each other’s runs, and also had some great shots, particularly by Sophomore Mike Spadafora. The defense was also really strong; basically the team just gelled. The game was pretty close for most of the second half, but when the score gap began to widen, Gburg stepped it up.

The triumph and suspense that ended the guys’ game seemed to have charged up the girls. They managed to end the first half up by six points. The second half was a battle to the end as the score seesawed back and forth for each team. With outstanding play by the whole team Gettyburg tipped the scale back in their favor. Gettysburg seemed to know what to expect from Muhlenberg; Coach Kirkpatrick said that “We expected them to be an up tempo team and go for a lot of 3 pointers. We played to our strengths and not to theirs.” Kirkpatrick also said regarding notable players that there really wasn’t just one. The Defense was strong, the rebounds were good and so were the free throws. One player that stood out though, was Katie Eiden, who scored 8 points and 4 rebounds for the Bullets. Another player to continually watch is Jen Bengel, who broke 1,000 career points on January 13th, versus Haverford. She is one of only eight players in program history to break 1,000, and is actually the fastest to do so. In Saturday’s game Bengel had 13 points and 9 rebounds. She also played all but 4 minutes of the game. As a junior, Bengel continues to break records, and should anticipate an eventful final season in 2005-2006.

Both teams displayed true heart as they battled until, literally, the buzzer for a win; what made it even better was that both teams did win. There were no frowns on any of the Gettysburg fans faces as they walked out of Bream on Saturday. In fact, there was electricity in the air. The men’s team returns to Gburg on Wednesday, February 9th, while the women travel to Muhlenberg on Thursday, February 10th, for what will be an interesting rematch.