GETTYSBURG, Pa. - Senior center Andrew Powers scored 22 of his season-high 30 points in the second half and grabbed nine rebounds as the Bullets overcame a sluggish start to beat Muhlenberg College 61-54 in Centennial Conference men's basketball action in Bream Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.
Gettysburg (9-6, 6-2 CC) won its fifth game in a row, the team's longest winning streak since an eight-gamer midway through the 2008-09 campaign. The Bullets, who entered the day in a three-way tie for first place in the Centennial Conference, are now tied only with Franklin & Marshall, as Dickinson lost at Swarthmore on Saturday.
Powers, who was a perfect 10-for-10 at the foul line and 10-for-14 from the field, moved into second on Gettysburg's career scoring list with his 20th point of the game as he passed Bill North '81, who totaled 1,712 points in three seasons from 1978-81. He also slid into second on the school's all-time steals list, making four thefts to push his career total to 143. In addition, he became Gettysburg's all-time leader in free throws made and now has 490 for his career.
Powers was the Bullet to not miss a foul shot while attempting at least 10 free throws since Corey Dorsey '09 went 10-for-10 against Franklin & Marshall on Feb. 18, 2009. It was the third 30-point game of Powers' career and his first since dropping 30 in a win at Washington College on Jan. 9 of last season.
Senior guard Paul Crone pumped in a career-high 14 points for the Bullets, shooting 4-for-8 from beyond the arc, while sophomore guard Larry Geedey dished out a career-best five assists.
Junior forward Spencer Liddic led Muhlenberg (8-7, 4-4 CC) with 20 points and 16 rebounds while freshman guard Austin Curry notched 14 points. Sophomore guard Rob Berish had 10 points and five rebounds for the Mules.
Curry gave Muhlenberg a 42-40 lead with 9:51 left before Gettysburg, which trailed 9-0 to start the game, broke it open with a 12-2 run. Sophomore guard Derek Brooks gave the Bullets the lead for a good when he came up with a steal and went coast-to-coast for a lay-up to make it 44-42 with 8:44 showing. Crone followed up with back-to-back treys sandwiched around a pair of Curry free throws, and a Powers jumper gave Gettysburg its largest lead (52-44) of the game with 4:52 to go.
Muhlenberg managed to pull to within four three times down the stretch, the last coming on a Curry jumper that cut it to 56-52 with 1:27 showing, but the Bullets went 5-of-6 at the foul line the rest of the way, with Powers going 4-for-4. His final two free throws set the final score with 13 seconds left, and the Bullets win was sealed when Curry misfired on a 3-pointer.
The two teams traded early runs. After Muhlenberg's opening 9-0 spurt, the Bullets regrouped, taking a 30-second timeout and running off eight straight points. Neither team led by more than five for the remainder of the half, which featured four ties and three lead changes. The Bullets pulled even (13-13) on a Powers lay-up with 10:48 left, and a long ball from Crone with 5:35 on the clock gave Gettysburg its first lead (18-17) of the day.
Senior center Scott Peterson put the Bullets up 22-19 on a lay-up with 1:18 to go before Liddic completed a conventional 3-point play to knot the score at 22-22. Kennedy drained a trey six seconds before the buzzer to put G-burg up 25-22 heading into the locker room.
Liddic had a double-double at the break, posting 16 points and 11 rebounds over the first 20 minutes. Powers led the Bullets with eight points and five boards.
Powers put his team up five (29-24) after a steal and dunk just over two minutes into the second half, but the Mules came back to take the lead after back-to-back 3's from Berish made it 35-33, prompting a Bullet timeout with 13:21 remaining. Muhlenberg never led by more than two before Gettysburg's late run.
It was the fourth game in a row that an opponent failed to score 60 points against the Bullets, who entered the game leading the conference and ranking 19th in Division III in scoring defense.