Box Score

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Senior center Andrew Powers posted 18 points, eight rebounds, and a career-high seven steals and was one of four Bullet starters to score in double figures as the Gettysburg College men's basketball team defeated host Muhlenberg College 74-67 in the Centennial Conference opener for both teams Tuesday evening at Memorial Hall.

With the win, Gettysburg head coach George Petrie recorded his 300th career victory, becoming just the second men's basketball coach in school history to reach the milestone. He is now just eight wins shy of tying the program record of 308 wins set by Hen Bream from 1927-55.

Freshman guard Stephen Poarch added 16 points for Gettysburg (2-1, 1-0 CC) and came up big down the stretch, scoring eight of the team's final 10 points while going 6-for-6 at the foul line inside the final 2:44. He finished 8-for-10 at the charity stripe.

Senior forward Kevin Kennedy added 15 points and six rebounds while sophomore forward Alex Zurn contributed 15 points and seven boards.

The win was Gettysburg's fourth straight in Centennial Conference openers, as the Bullets improved to 13-5 in such games.

Muhlenberg (3-1, 0-1 CC) received a game-high 21 points from Austin Curry while Spencer Liddic led all players with eight rebounds.

Gettysburg never trailed in the second half and broke the game open with a 13-3 run midway through the stanza.

The Bullets jumped to a quick 11-2 lead, getting dunks from Zurn and Powers before Kennedy drained a 3 from the top of the arc with 16:15 on the clock, prompting a Muhlenberg timeout.

Zurn made a key defensive play with 13:06 left in the opening half, drawing a charge on Liddic, who was averaging 25 points per game entering the contest, and forcing the all-conference forward to sit the remainder of the half with his second foul. The Bullets saw their lead swell into double digits when Kennedy nailed his second trey, getting a friendly bounce off the glass to push his team's lead to 20-10.

Muhlenberg responded with a 14-0 run while holding the Bullets scoreless over a six-and-a-half minute stretch. Poarch snapped the drought for the Bullets when he made a steal on the defensive end before racing coast-to-coast for a fastbreak lay-up with 5:17 left.

Zurn helped fuel a 12-2 Bullet run when he hit back-to-back jumpers, including a trey from the right elbow on a cross-court pass from Kennedy that made it 31-26. Kennedy's final bucket of the half with 1:21 left gave the visitors a 34-29 halftime advantage.

Kennedy led all players with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the opening half while Zurn and Powers each added nine.

The Mules pulled to within one on Liddic's lay-up with 13:53 left in the game before the Bullets embarked on their decisive run. Junior guard Brendan Trelease kick-started the spurt, scoring six of the first eight points on a pair of 3-pointers. Zurn capped the run, slashing down the lane for lay-up before converting a conventional three-point play to make it 55-44 with 8:07 remaining.

Muhlenberg never seriously threatened the rest of the way, and the Bullets salted the game away at the free-throw line, where they made eight of their final 10 shots. Curry drained a trey for the Mules to make it 72-67 with eight seconds left, but Poarch settled any doubt with a pair of foul shots one second later to set the final score.

Gettysburg returns to action on Sunday, when it hosts York (Pa.) College at 4 p.m. in a non-conference outing.