Men’s B-Ball Falls to Ursinus

By Kim Tenure

After a close game with Muhlenberg, the Bullets should have been riding a wave of success; unfortunately, it came crashing down in another close game against Ursinus on Wednesday, February 9th. With a final score of 69-64, the Bullets came close but just couldn’t seem to stop Ursinus from scoring.

The game wasn’t lost in just one half. Gettysburg never let Ursinus get too far ahead of them without catching up. In the first half, the Bullets gained leads, but then Ursinus would catch up, usually taking the lead back. It didn’t improve in the second half either, which began with Gburg trailing 35-31. The Bullets caught up only to lose the lead half way through the game, and then gain it back, but again lost it for good with only ten minutes remaining.

The men have had a roller coaster season; starting out with a rocky set of loses, but they recovered with a seven game winning streak, including a win over Division 1 Navy in Annapolis. It ended at the end of January with a loss against Haverford. Despite their losses, the games have been really close. They aren’t getting blown away, which sometimes makes the loss sting even more. In this game the problem might have been that Gburg shot the ball worse than their opponent. The Bullets could only find the net 41% of the time opposed to Ursinus which found it 44%. In basketball, a three percent difference in field goal percentage wouldn’t make an overwhelming difference, but in such a close game it does.

The men have a solid basketball team, especially with Senior Co-Captains David Glaser and Kyle Jakobe and Junior Matt Whelan. Jakobe takes every opportunity to shoot three point shots, in which he made four of the nine (44%) shots that he attempted in this game. Whelan is a tenacious player on the court. Despite his size, which is the shortest on the team, a small 5’9, he makes up for with the speed and energy he brings to the court along with his go-get attitude. Glaser is a two time All Centennial Conference Player and leads the team in points, rebounds, blocks, and assists. Glaser is the team’s go to player and the fate of this team and its season lies in his hands.

After so many close games, Gettysburg needs a victory, and with an away game against Washington on Saturday, this might be just the shot for Gburg.