Gettysburg avenged a one-point loss from last season and became the first Division III team to beat a Division I team this season as the Bullets defeated Navy 75-69.

Mike Spadafora scored 12 of his career-high 26 points in the final three and a half minutes to clinch the win for Gettysburg (3-4). The Bullets, playing without leading scorer David Glaser's 20 points per game, took the lead midway through the second half with a 17-0 run.

"It was definitely a big win for us,” Gettysburg coach George Petrie said after the victory, the 199th of his career. “We suffered a tough one-point loss down there last year, and it feels good to pull it out this year.

"We've played a lot of close games this year and came from behind; we just haven't been finishing. This time we actually finished and it's really good for the guys. Especially playing without (David) Glaser, the guys showed a lot of character to pull that out without their leading scorer.”

"To be honest, it didn't surprise me," said Navy coach Billy Lange. "On tape, I felt like they were the best team we've faced all year. They are a great team. They have five guys who can pass, dribble, shoot and they have great toughness on the defensive side of the floor." Full story follows.

It was the highlight of a light Saturday night of action before the holidays, which also included one men's game between Top 25 teams, with No. 10 Lawrence holding off No. 17 UW-Oshkosh 52-46. On the women's side, No. 22 UW-Eau Claire lost at Division I South Dakota State 77-62.

Mike Spadafora tallied 12 of his career-high 26 points in the game’s final three and half minutes to lift Gettysburg to a 75-69 victory at Navy in non-conference men’s basketball action on Saturday.

Spadafora hit 15 of 16 free throws to lead four players in double figures for the Bullets (3-4), who got their first victory in 12 tries against the Midshipmen (3-6) dating back to a 78-76 overtime win in 1992.

Ryan Page added 14 points, including three of Gettysburg’s eight 3-pointers. Kyle Jakobe (Baltimore, MD/McDonogh) and Erik Fromm added 11 apiece.

Laramie Mergerson paced Navy with 16 points. Corey Johnson added 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

Page drilled a triple with 3:47 to play to turn a two-point deficit into a one-point advantage. From there, Spadafora took over, converting 8 of 9 free throws and adding a layup and jumper for the final surge.

Mergerson tied the game for the final time at 63 with 2:35 to play, but six straight points from Spadafora and a Page dunk gave Gettysburg a 71-65 lead en route to the Bullets’ first non-overtime victory over the Midshipmen since 1969.

Gettysburg came out of the gate hot, tallying 12 of the game's first 15 points. 

David Hooper cut the lead to six on a trey entering the first media timeout.

With 13:12 remaining in the opening stanza, Johnson hit a triple of his own to spark an 11-2 surge over the next three minutes for a 17-14 lead.

Two free throws and a layup from Mergerson stretched the Midshipmen advantage to as many as eight at 27-19.

With 6:02 to play in the first half, Page drilled a 3-pointer to start a 14-6 surge, capped by a Jakobe three-point play to knot the game at 33 with 2:05 remaining before the intermission.

Clinging to a 38-25 halftim advantage, Navy stretched the lead to 15 over the first 8 mintues, 53 seconds of the second half.

Spadafora hit two free throws to start 17-0 run over a 3-minute, 39-second span to give the Bullets their first lead at 54-52 with 7:28 remaining in the game.

Jakobe hit both of his triples during the run.

On his 55th birthday, head coach George Petrie earned his 199th career victory, putting him one win away from becoming the third coach in program history to reach the 200-win plateau.