GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Fueled by a season-high 13 points off the bench by freshman Akim Joseph (Port-au-Prince, Haiti/Notre Dame Fairfield (Conn.)), including a pair of highlight-reel dunks, Gettysburg College pulled off a season sweep of rival Franklin & Marshall College for the second consecutive season with a 67-59 victory inside Bream Gym on Wednesday night.
 

                       
Gettysburg's Top Performers

• Akim Joseph '25: 13 points, 5 rebounds
• Jordan Stafford '25 (Galloway, N.J./Saint Joseph Hammonton): 13 points, 5 rebounds
• Ryan McKeon '24 (Landenberg, Pa./Sanford): 9 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks
• Avery Close '22 (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville): 8 points, 4 rebounds
• Rassoul Abakar '25 (Cameroon/Notre Dame Fairfield (Conn.)): 8 points
• Carl Schaller '25 (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley): 8 points, 6 rebounds
• Elijah Williams '23 (Washington, D.C./Sidwell Friends): 6 points, 10 rebounds

 
F&M's Top Performers

• Solomon Mathis: 18 points, 3 steals
• Mark Suchy: 10 points, 6 rebounds
• Riiny Giir: 9 points

 
Game Summary - First Half

• It was a sluggish start inside Bream Gym off the tip with F&M grinding its way to an 8-4 lead through four minutes of action. The Bullets eventually seized the lead with a pair of offensive rebounds leading to buckets by Stafford and McKeon and a lay-up by Schaller pushing the advantage to 14-10 at 10:31.
• Joseph provided a first-half highlight by catching a pass from Schaller in transition and throwing down a two-handed dunk at 6:17. The Diplomats didn't blink, scoring a pair of free throws to go up 18-16 and jumping in front 27-20 on a lay-up by Suchy with under four minutes to go in the half.
• Schaller trimmed the deficit down to five (33-28) with a final jumper one minute before the break.

 

• After hitting just 10-of-34 (29.4 percent) of its shots in the opening half, Gettysburg found its groove in the second half and knocked down 60 percent of its field goals. The bench played a major role with 17 points and the Bullets out-scored F&M 22-8 in the paint. Gettysburg opened the half with an 8-0 run with back-to-back buckets by Williams pushing the score to 36-33 at 16:25.
• The Diplomats tied the game three times over the next three minutes. Joseph broke a 40-all deadlock with a drive to the bucket and Abakar followed up with a steal and lay-in for a four-point lead. After the visitors scored, Joseph provided the highlight of the night, driving past his defender from the right wing and throwing down a thunderous one-handed dunk down the left lane to make it 46-42 with 11:26 to play.
• Despite the strong inside play by Gettysburg, Franklin & Marshall refused to go away and sliced the margin down to one twice, the last coming at 50-49 with 8:38 left. The Bullets responded with seven quick points, the last three coming on a transition three-pointer by Joseph to push the lead to 57-49 at 6:52.
• A three-pointer by Mathis sliced the deficit down to two (58-56) with five minutes remaining, but the Diplomats would go without another field goal for the remainder of the game. Stafford rattled home a three-pointer from the corner and Close muscled in a lay-up to keep the Bullets ahead 63-58. The hosts polished off the win with four consecutive made free throws.

 
By the Numbers

• Gettysburg's second-half shooting performance helped the team finish 25-of-59 (42.4 percent) overall from the floor. Franklin & Marshall finished 23-of-56 (41.1 percent) for the game, including hitting just 8-of-28 (28.6 percent) in the second half.
• The Bullets tied a season high with 49 rebounds, more than double F&M's total (24). Williams seized a game-high 10 boards, marking his fourth double-figure rebounding effort of the season.
• Joseph topped his previous season high by a point. The first-year finished 6-of-12 from the floor and grabbed five rebounds.
• Gettysburg set a new program standard with 17 dunks this season. The mark bested the previous season high of 16 set in 2010-11. The Bullets have already set a new mark with seven different players throwing down a slam this season.
• The Orange and Blue remain locked in a heated battle for a playoff spot with just five games remaining on the conference schedule. Gettysburg is in third place, just half-a-game ahead of Ursinus College (10-7, 7-5 CC) and Haverford College (11-8, 7-5 CC). Swarthmore College (17-3, 11-2 CC) and Johns Hopkins University (15-3, 11-2 CC) sit tied atop the Centennial standings.

 
Where the Series Stands
Gettysburg swept the regular season series with F&M for the second consecutive season after winning both meetings in 2019-20 and the first matchup earlier this season. The back-to-back sweeps were the first for the Bullets over the Diplomats since 2007-08 and 2008-09. Gettysburg improved its standing in the all-time series to 120-106.
 
Next Up
Gettysburg visits Ursinus this Saturday at 1 p.m.