Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Freshman forward Alex Zurn (Brookeville, Md./St. Andrew's Episcopal) scored a season-high 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting and Gettysburg made its final 10 free throws over the last 1:36 to pull away for a 67-59 Centennial Conference men's basketball victory Saturday afternoon at Bream Gymnasium.

The Bullets (8-6, 6-2 CC) move back into a three-way tie for first place in the conference standings with the victory, as first-place Muhlenberg lost at Washington (Md.) while 11th-ranked Franklin & Marshall defeated McDaniel.

The win also gives the Bullets a season series sweep over Haverford, as Gettysburg also topped the Fords 58-43 on Dec. 5.

Gettysburg, playing its third game in five days, led just 52-51 with 2:43 to go after Sam Permutt completed an old-fashioned three-point play for Haverford (4-10, 2-6 CC). But with the shot clock winding down, Zurn nailed a three-pointer at the other end, kicking off the Bullets game-ending run. Junior forward Kevin Kennedy (Gaithersburg, Md./Quince Orchard) and junior center Andrew Powers (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown) each went 4-for-4 at the foul line down the stretch while senior guard Brendan Hager (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) also knocked down a pair of free throws. Zurn punctuated the Bullets win with a fastbreak dunk off a long inbounds pass from Hager with 20 seconds left that put his team up nine.

Powers finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season and his third in the last four games. Kennedy notched 10 points, going 6-for-6 at the foul line, while Hager had nine points.

Ian Goldberg led Haverford with 13 points while Permutt had 10 points and five rebounds.

The Bullets opened the game strong, holding the Fords scoreless over the first 6:28 while building a 9-0 lead. It was a 16-5 game with 11:55 left in the opening half following a lay-up from freshman center Christian Bors (Lanham, Md./Sidwell Friends [D.C.]), but Haverford came back with an 8-0 spurt to get back into it.

The two teams traded runs before the end of the half, with Gettysburg first using a 6-0 surge to go up 22-13 with 6:59 left. The Fords then used a 9-1 outburst to close the gap to one (23-22) with 3:13 on the clock. Haverford took its first lead of the game and went up by four after back-to-back 3-pointers from Eli Schwarz and Goldberg. But Zurn single-handedly gave the Bullets the lead at the break, converting a lay-up with 19 seconds left, then taking the ball on an inbounds pass with five seconds left, dribbling up the court, and draining a trey just before the buzzer as Gettysburg carried a 31-30 advantage into the locker room.

Neither team was able to find its offensive touch early in the second half, and Lekan O-Nicholson's jumper with 16:27 to go marked the first points of the stanza, giving the Fords a 32-31 lead. After a Powers lay-up briefly put the Bullets in front, the Fords took the lead on a Goldberg three with 15:38 left, and the Bullets would not lead again until Powers went 1-of-2 at the line with 8:38 remaining to make it 42-41.

After two more ties and one lead change, Gettysburg went ahead to stay after a Hager trey with 5:14 showing gave the Bullets a 47-44 advantage. The Fords narrowed the deficit to one on three more occasions, with the last coming on Permutt's late three-point play.

The Bullets shot 48.6 percent and held Haverford to 37.7 percent shooting. Gettysburg was also 76.5 percent (26-for-34) at the foul line but tied its season-low from three-point range (25.0 percent, 5-for-20).

Gettysburg completes its three-game homestand on Wednesday, when it hosts McDaniel at 8 p.m. in the second game of a women's and men's doubleheader. The Orange & Blue Club is holding its Orange Crush event at the games, encouraging all Bullet fans to wear orange.