Box Score

HAVERFORD, Pa. – Haverford led by six at halftime, then gradually pulled away midway through the second half as the host Fords defeated Gettysburg 69-58 in Centennial Conference men's basketball action Tuesday evening.

Senior center Connor Poston (Ambler, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Bullets (5-9, 3-4 CC). Freshman forward Tanner Kirkpatrick (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley) added 11 points while freshman guard Pete Christ (Pittstown, N.J./Delaware Valley Regional) added 10 points and a season-high seven rebounds.

Brett Cohen scored 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting to lead Haverford (5-7, 1-6 CC) to its first Centennial Conference victory of the year.

The Fords, who never trailed in the game, shot 16-of-20 at the foul line and committed just five turnovers.

Haverford's six-point halftime lead was its largest in the opening 20 minutes. Poston carried his team in the early going and scored nine straight points for the Bullets, including a put-back that made it 8-8 with 16:21 on the clock.

Haverford answered with the next five points but Poston kept the Bullets close with his conventional 3-point play at the 13:44 mark that made it 13-11.

Gettysburg tied the game on six occasions in the opening half, the fifth coming on a free throw from sophomore forward Kevin Gladstone (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) with 10:50 remaining in the period to pull the Bullets even at 18-all.

Christ went 2-for-3 at the line with 10:10 to go, making it 20-20, and he dropped in a fastbreak lay-up with 4:03 showing to bring the Bullets to within 27-26. However, Haverford would score the final five points of the half to assume a 32-26 advantage at the intermission.

The Fords nudged their lead to nine on a Cohen jumper with 17:34 left made it 38-29. Gettysburg cut it to five three times, the last on a Kirkpatrick lay-in with 12:07 left that made it 43-38. But that's when Haverford embarked on an elongated 16-6 run over a 6:33 stretch to open up a commanding 59-44 lead with 4:49 to go.

Christ made it a 10-point game with his 3-pointer at the 3:33 mark, but Haverford came up with a pair of big offensive rebounds on its next trip down the court. The Bullets were unable to get closer than nine the rest of the way while Haverford iced the game at the foul line, going 8-for-8 at the charity stripe in the final 53 seconds.

Gettysburg returns to the court on Saturday, when it hosts Swarthmore College beginning at 1 p.m. in another Centennial Conference match-up.