GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Gettysburg College men's basketball team erased a 12-point deficit with a thrilling second-half comeback, but the rally fell just short as Bridgewater (Va.) held on for a 77-75 overtime victory in the first round of the 27th annual Gettysburg Tip-Off Tournament Friday evening in Bream Gym.
 
Senior Matt England (Warrington, Pa./Holy Ghost Prep) spearheaded the comeback for Gettysburg (0-1), scoring the final seven points of regulation to wipe out a Bridgewater seven-point lead with less than three minutes left. He would go on to score the Bullets' first three points of overtime and finished with seven points in the extra session, giving him 14 points over the game's final eight minutes. Playing his first game since the 2015-16 season finale, England netted a career-high 22 points while grabbing nine rebounds.
 
Making their collegiate starts, junior center Luke Cooper (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) and junior guard Alec Warren (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) also notched career-highs in scoring. Cooper netted 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting, and he also posted career-highs in rebounds (seven) and assists (five). Warren dropped 13 points shooting a career-best 4-of-10 from beyond the arc.
 
Sophomore guard Nick Lord (Millersville, Pa./Penn Manor) added 10 points and four assists for Gettysburg, which will now face Hunter in the consolation game on Saturday at 2 p.m. Bridgewater moves on to the championship game where it will face Moravian, an 88-50 winner over Hunter in the other first-round game.
 
Dimetri Chambers scored 24 points to lead the Eagles (1-0) while A.J. Horde added 20 points.
 
Bridgewater led 66-59 with 2:48 to go before England took over. First, he knocked down a fadeaway jumper in the lane and hit the ensuing free throw to make it a four-point game. The Eagles missed a 3-pointer at the other end before England drove the left baseline for a lay-in that made it 66-64 with 1:50 left. The two sides then traded missed field goals, and Warren grabbed a rebound to give the Bullets possession with 29 seconds left. England would take a pass on the left elbow before slashing through an opening in the paint, converting another left-hand lay-up to deadlock the score.
 
The Eagles called timeout, but Horde's pull-up jumper at the buzzer rattled out.
 
England continued his tear in overtime. After Bridgewater hit a 3-pointer, England responded by drilling a triple from the right corner, making it a 69-69 game.
 
The Bullets would tie the game on two more occasions in the extra session, first on a pair of free throws by sophomore guard Danny Duffey (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Lower  Moreland) with 2:00 left, then on a another England lay-up with 1:12 remaining. However, Chambers converted a bucket with 46 seconds left, and after a Gettysburg turnover, Horde hit a pair of big free throws that made it 77-73.
 
England made another driving lay-up with 12 seconds left, and Chambers missed the front end of a 1-and-1 to give the Bullets a chance in the closing seconds. The Bullets raced the ball up the floor, but England's runner from the right baseline bounced off the rim as time expired.
 
It was a close game in the early going until a 9-2 Gettysburg run, fueled by a pair of 3-pointers from Lord, gave the Bullets a 32-23 lead with 2:59 left in the opening half. A Cooper lay-up with 38 seconds to go put the hosts up 36-30 at the half.
 
Led by Horde, Bridgewater used some torrid outside shooting to open up a gap in the second period. The Eagles outscored the Bullets 16-4 to open the stanza, with Horde hitting a trio of 3's and scoring 11 points during the stretch.
 
The Bullets trailed just 53-48 with 11:07 remaining after a lay-up from sophomore guard Nick Antolini (Babylon, N.Y./Babylon). However, Bridgewater scored the next seven points to open up their 12-point lead.
 
The visitors still led by 12 (62-50) after a Chambers lay-up with 4:45 left, but Warren sparked the Bullet comeback with a 3-pointer. He dialed long distance again with 3:20 remaining to make it 64-59, setting up England's late heroics.
 
The game marked the first-ever meeting with Bridgewater, and Saturday's contest will also be the team's inaugural meeting with Hunter.