GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Muhlenberg College's Dan Gaines hit two free throws with 0.2 seconds left to send the Mules (18-7, 11-7 CC) past Gettysburg College (12-13, 6-12 CC) 74-72 in the Centennial Conference regular-season finale inside Bream Gym Saturday afternoon.
 
Gettysburg's Top Performers

• Alex Leder '21 (Bethesda, Md./Bulls School) – 21 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists
• Nick Antolini '20 (Babylon, N.Y./Babylon) – 13 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists
• Avery Close '21 (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville) – 11 points, 2 assists, 2 rebounds
• Nick Lord '20 (Millersville, Pa./Penn Manor) – 8 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals

 
Muhlenberg's Top Performers

• Dan Gaines – 18 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals
• Matt Gnias – 14 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists
• Nate Henty Brown – 10 points, 4 rebounds

 
How It Happened…

• First Half
  • Senior Danny Duffey (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Lower Moreland) hit a game-opening three-pointer for the Bullets, but Muhlenberg ran off the next 10 points with a three-pointer by Justin Allen pushing the margin to 10-3 at 16:10.
  • Gettysburg stormed back with a 14-3 run over the next seven minutes. Close tied the game twice on lay-ups and Leder pushed the hosts in front 17-13 with a pair of free throws with 8:54 left in the first half.
  • The score was tied four times over the remainder of the period before the Mules scored back-to-back buckets to jump in front 32-28. The teams traded buckets on the final nine possessions of the period and Muhlenberg took a 41-37 lead into the locker room.
• Second Half
  • Gettysburg trimmed the deficit down to one three times in the first 10 minutes of the final stanza, but the Mules held off the hosts and took a 58-52 lead following two free throws by Dallas Hoffman with 11:22 to play.
  • Michael Morreale knocked down a three-pointer to push Muhlenberg's lead to 67-59 at 6:18. Playing in their final game, the seniors sparked Gettysburg to a rally with Duffey converting a lay-up and Lord and Antolini hitting back-to-back three-pointers to slice the margin down to two (69-67) with 3:13 left.
  • The Bullets still trailed by two inside the final minute when an Antolini three-pointer hit the rim and caromed to Lord. The senior banked in the follow-up shot from the side to tie the contest 72-72 with 29 seconds on the clock.
  • Gaines missed his lay-up attempt inside 10 seconds, but the Muhlenberg guard made a heads-up play to knock the ball away from Antolini and sprint to the rim after a pass from mid-court. He drew the foul and rattled home both free throws with just two-tenths of a second left.

 
By the Numbers

• Gettysburg finished 27-of-62 (43.5 percent) from the floor, including 9-of-20 (45 percent) from beyond the arc. Muhlenberg was 29-of-61 (47.5 percent) from the field.
• The Bullets set a new program standard with 200 made three-pointers this season. The team topped the old mark of 199 which was achieved four times, including last season. Gettysburg's three-point field-goal percentage (.380) was the best since 1998-99 (.382).
• Duffey closed his career as the most prolific passer at Gettysburg. He turned in 330 career assists, which is 60 more than previous record holders Andrew Powers '11 and Steve Gordon '96. Duffey is the only Bullet with two 90-assist seasons, recording those in 2016-17 and 2017-18.
• Antolini finished out the season averaging a career-high 16.4 points per game. He finished his career with 1,022 points, which ranks 25th in program history.
• Lord finished seventh at Gettysburg with 129 career three-pointers made. Antolini finished 10th with 123.
• Gettysburg doubled its season win total from a season ago. The Bullets gave nearly every team a battle with nine games decided by nine points or less, including each of the final six Centennial Conference affairs.

 
Where the Series Stands
Muhlenberg jumped ahead by one game (81-80) in the all-time series with Gettysburg.