Box Score

YORK, Pa. – Junior center Andrew Powers (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown) scored a game-high 27 points and broke into the top-20 of Gettysburg's career scoring list as the Bullets held off a late rally and topped Medgar Evers College 69-59 in the first round of the York (Pa.) College Coaches vs. Cancer Classic Saturday evening at Charles Wolf Gymnasium.

With the win, the Bullets (4-4) advance to the tournament championship game to take on host York at 6 p.m. on Sunday. The game will mark a rematch between the two squads, as the Spartans came from behind to beat the Bullets 67-66 on Nov. 24 in York.

Gettysburg, which led from start to finish, also received 13 points and a career-high five assists from junior forward Kevin Kennedy (Gaithersburg, Md./Quince Orchard) while senior guard Andrew Bohan (Smithsburg, Md./Smithsburg) tied a career-high with eight points. Senior guard Brendan Hager (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) also dished out five assists while freshman guard Derek Brooks (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) made his collegiate debut and scored two points, going 2-for-2 at the foul line.

Powers, who entered the game 21st in career scoring at Gettysburg, moved into 17th on the all-time list and has now scored 1,083 points for his career. He has scored 20 or more points five times this season, including each of the last four games.

Shawn Bassarath led Medgar Evers (6-5) with 12 points while Winston Douglas notched a double-double on 10 points and 12 rebounds. Kallai Sharpe led all players with 11 assists.

It was a back-and-forth game in the early going, with four ties coming in the first 4:13. But the Bullets gave themselves some breathing room with a 10-2 run, fueled by six points from Powers and four from junior guard Paul Crone (Braddock Heights, Md./Middletown) that made it 20-12 with 13:01 on the clock.

The Cougars answered with a 7-0 spurt to cut it to one, but the Bullets pulled away late in the half, using a 9-0 run in which it held Medgar Evers scoreless over a 4:26 stretch to open up a 33-21 lead with 3:59 left. A three-pointer by Hager with 30 ticks showing put Gettysburg up 40-32 at the half.

The Bullets enjoyed their largest lead of the night in the second half, when they went ahead by 13 on five occasions, the last coming after a Powers lay-up that made it 56-43 with 8:12 to go. But that's when the Cougars scored 11 unanswered points to draw to within two with 5:11 on the clock. However, Gettysburg answered right back with a decisive 12-2 surge to push their lead back into double digits (68-56) with 2:25 left, and Medgar Evers was unable to get closer than nine the rest of the way. The Bullets made good at the foul line during the stretch, going 7-for-7 at the charity stripe.

Gettysburg shot 46.9 percent from the field and 79.2 percent (19-for-24) at the foul line. The Bullets committed a season-low 12 turnovers.

York defeated Rosemont College 67-62 in the other first-round game.