It was another day and another nailbiter for the Gettysburg College men's basketball team.

Three days after suffering a 67-65 overtime loss at McDaniel College, the Bullets held off a second-half rally to beat Haverford College 76-73 in a key Centennial Conference match-up Saturday afternoon at Bream Gymnasium.

With the win, Gettysburg (10-7, 7-3 CC) moved into sole possession of second place in the Centennial Conference standings. The Bullets entered the day in a three-way tie for second with Haverford and McDaniel, who lost to Franklin & Marshall College on Saturday.

Each of the Bullets last four games have been decided by seven points or less.

Gettysburg, which won for the sixth time in its last seven games, was led by senior center Andrew Powers who tied a season-high with 30 points. Powers, who notched his fourth career 30-point game, was nearly flawless from the field, shooting 10-for-12, and was 10-for-15 at the foul line. He also had five rebounds and four steals and came up with several big plays down the stretch.

Junior guard Brendan Trelease contributed 13 points for the Bullets, who won their sixth straight home game and improved to 7-1 in Bream Gym this season. Junior forward Tim Lang turned in a strong all-around game, finishing with 10 points, seven rebounds, and a career-high six assists.

Four different players finished in double figures for Haverford (9-7, 6-4 CC), which erased a 10-point second-half deficit with some torrid outside shooting. Junior forward Bo Friddell led the Fords with 16 points while sophomore guard Cam Baker and freshman guard Louis Cipriano had 15 apiece. Junior guard Ian Goldberg added 15 points while freshman forward Brett Cohen led all players with 10 rebounds.

Both teams shot extremely well, with Haverford making 52.9 percent of its shots and Gettysburg going 58.7 percent from the floor, the team's best mark since shooting 64.6 percent in a win over Johns Hopkins on Dec. 1. The Fords' effort marked the highest shooting percentage this season against Gettysburg, which entered the game ranked 12th in Division III in scoring defense. Haverford's 73 points were the most scored against the Bullets all year.

Powers stepped up in the clutch once again, and his driving lay-up with 1:22 left put his team in front (71-70) to stay. Freshman forward Connor Poston then made a pair of key rebounds, first grabbing a defensive board with 44 seconds left, then chasing down a loose ball for an offensive rebound with 23 ticks showing after Powers went 1-for-2 at the foul line.

Powers was fouled again with 15 seconds left, and this time he made them both to put the Bullets up 74-70. At the other end, he came up with a steal near midcourt, and with nine seconds remaining sophomore guard Derek Brooks hit 1-of-2 free throws.

Cipriano pulled Haverford within two (75-73) when he nailed an improbable 3-pointer from close to 40 feet out off an inbound pass at halfcourt. However, Trelease connected on 1-of-2 foul shots with 1.7 seconds left, and Powers sealed the victory when he intercepted a baseball pass near midcourt on the final inbound.

Trailing 44-34 at the half, the Fords cut into the lead thanks largely to their 3-point shooting. Haverford connected on 7-of-12 long balls in the second half, including three over a 1:18 span that cut the deficit to 55-54 following a Goldberg trey. Baker dropped in a lay-up to make it 56-55 with 12:15 to go as the visitors took their first lead since it was 3-2.

The lead changed hands seven times over the remainder of the game, with neither team leading by more than five. The Bullets held the Fords scoreless over a five-minute stretch after Haverford had taken a five-point (67-62) lead with 7:15 left.

Gettysburg seemed to be in control in the early going, racing out to a 16-8 lead. The Bullets saw their lead reach as much as 13 on two occasions, the last coming on a Powers jumper that made it 36-23 with 4:14 remaining in the opening period. The Fords got back into it with a 7-0 run, but a Trelease baseline jumper at the buzzer gave the Orange & Blue its 10-point halftime advantage.

HAVERFORD COLLEGE (9-7, 6-4 CC)
Bo Friddell 6-11 2-2 16; Cam Baker 5-13 4-4 15; Louis Cipriano 6-9 0-0 15;
Ian Goldberg 4-8 1-2 12; Sam Permutt 3-5 1-1 7; Lekan O-Nicholson 2-2 1-2 6;
Brett Cohen 1-3 0-0 2; Joel Michel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-51 9-11 73.
GETTYSBURG (10-7, 7-3 CC)
Andrew Powers 10-12 10-15 30; Brendan Trelease 5-10 1-2 13; Tim Lang 5-8 0-0
10; Paul Crone 1-2 5-6 7; Kevin Kennedy 2-6 1-1 6; Connor Poston 3-3 0-0 6;
Larry Geedey 1-4 0-0 3; Derek Brooks 0-1 1-3 1; Scott Peterson 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 27-46 18-27 76.
Haverford College.............   34   39  -   73
Gettysburg....................   44   32  -   76
3-point goals--Haverford College 10-19 (Louis Cipriano 3-6; Ian Goldberg
3-7; Bo Friddell 2-3; Lekan O-Nicholson 1-1; Cam Baker 1-2), Gettysburg 4-15
(Brendan Trelease 2-6; Kevin Kennedy 1-4; Larry Geedey 1-3; Paul Crone 0-1;
Andrew Powers 0-1). Fouled out--Haverford College-None, Gettysburg-None.
Rebounds--Haverford College 25 (Brett Cohen 10), Gettysburg 24 (Tim Lang 7).
Assists--Haverford College 17 (Cam Baker 5), Gettysburg 18 (Tim Lang 6).
Total fouls--Haverford College 21, Gettysburg 11. Technical fouls--Haverford
College-None, Gettysburg-None. A-295