MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Chatham Men's Basketball (23-5, 18-2) concluded its season with an 84-68 loss in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament against the Gettysburg Bullets (21-7, 10-3) on Friday at Silloway Gymnasium on the campus of Wesleyan University.

Diaun Pinkett led the Cougars in scoring with 21 points on 9-14 shooting, while Lovenson Xavier contributed 20 points on 8-17 shooting with seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Pinkett notched six steals on the day, bringing his single-season program record total to 88. Simon Boyer netted 15 points with three assists. He finishes his time at Chatham as the school's all-time leading scorer. Blaine Gartley totaled six points and four rebounds, and Easton Fulmer grabbed a team-high seven rebounds with four points and three assists.

Gettysburg opened the game with a deep three to lead 3-0, while Boyer's response from long range came up short. A driving layup made it 5-0 Bullets before the Cougars got on the board with a long two-point jumper from Hunter Verling. The two sides traded stops for the next five possessions before a layup from Gartley at 16:17 cut it to 5-4. Layups were traded on both ends, with Xavier scoring for Chatham, as Gettysburg led 7-6 at the first media timeout.

Gettysburg missed the first two free throws of the day but were able to respond with a steal and fastbreak score, then cashed in on two more chances at the line to go up 11-6 with 14:23 left. A second-chance layup extended the Bullet run to 6-0 before a mid-range jumper from the elbow by Xavier cut the deficit to five points. The Cougars found themselves down by double-digits after a corner three and a layup from the Bullets.

Back-to-back threes sparked what became a 20-4 run for Gettysburg, giving them a 33-12 lead with seven minutes left in the first half. However, Chatham would claw back with a 11-0 run that featured four points each from Boyer and Pinkett and included three steals, with two coming from Pinkett. The Bullets went to the break with a 38-25 lead.

Gettysburg opened the second half with a 7-0 run to increase its lead to 45-25, but Chatham quickly battled back with a three-point play from Pinkett and a triple from Xavier in a 35 second span. Pinkett kept busy on the offensive end, scoring six straight for the Cougars, then Chatham was able to put together a 15-5 run later in the half to cut it to 67-54 with 6:29 left to play but couldn't muster another stretch that would bring the game back within reach.

The Cougars shot a respectable 42.2% (27-64) but went 4-22 from long range and were outrebounded 42-30. The Bullets ended the day at 51.6% (33-64) from the floor and 42.9% (9-21) from deep.