GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Lucas Pennington drained a 3-pointer with seven seconds left in overtime and Ohio Northern University defeated the Bullets 72-71 in the first round of the Gettysburg Days Inn Tournament Friday evening in Bream Gymnasium.

In the other first-round game, Hood College defeated Drew University 80-54. Gettysburg will take on Drew in the consolation game at 2 p.m. while Hood will face Ohio Northern in the championship game at 4 p.m.

Junior forward Alex Zurn scored a game-high 21 points and was nearly the hero for Gettysburg (0-2), which dropped its second straight game in overtime to start the season. Zurn nailed a pull-up jumper from the free-throw line with 16 seconds to go before Pennington drilled his shot from the top of the arc.

Sophomore guard Brandon Rushton scored 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting to lead the Polar Bears, who were playing their season opener. Senior center Scott Schnelle added 14 points, seven rebounds, and three blocked shots before fouling out with 2:31 left in OT.

The nailbiter featured 10 ties and 12 lead changes, and neither side led by more than six the entire night.

It was the second-straight 20-point night for Zurn, who shot 7-for-13 from the floor and went 7-for-7 at the foul line. Zurn also scored 29 points in Gettysburg's season opener against Alvernia on Tuesday.

The Bullets were also victimized by a late 3-pointer in regulation, as Jared Horstman connected from long range with 18 seconds left to force overtime, 10 seconds after Zurn had hit a pair of free throws to make it 63-60. Gettysburg brought the ball upcourt after Horstman's shot but senior forward Tim Lang misfired on a jumper at the buzzer.

Neither team led by more than two in the extra session. Junior center Benjamin Constable knocked down four straight foul shots midway through the period, and his last two put the Bullets ahead 69-67 with 1:43 on the clock. But Rushton tied it with a J at the 42-second mark, setting the stage for Zurn and Pennington. Gettysburg called timeout with just under four seconds left, but a 3-pointer from senior guard Brendan Trelease from the left elbow rimmed out as time expired.

Gettysburg raced to an early 8-2 advantage, but Ohio Northern came back to take the lead with 11:24 left in the half. The Polar Bears led by as much as four in the opening stanza, and two Horstman free throws with 17 ticks showing tied it at 32-all heading into the break.
The Bears led for the majority of the second half, pushing their lead to six on a pair of occasions, the last coming on a Rushton 3 with 10:18 left. But the Bullets used a 9-2 run to assume a 55-54 lead on a Lang triple with 3:33 showing. Junior guard Derek Brooks followed up with a fastbreak lay-up off a steal and dish from Zurn with 2:30 to go, but ONU closed the period on a 9-4 spurt, capped by Horstman's big shot.

Constable finished with 10 points and four rebounds off the bench while Trelease and Lang added nine points apiece. Junior center Christian Bors contributed five points, five rebounds, and five assists while Lang also dished out four assists.

Horstman totaled 10 points for Ohio Northern.

OHIO NORTHERN (1-0)
Brandon Rushton 8-10 2-4 20; Scott Schnelle 6-14 2-2 14; Jared Horstman 3-43-4 10; Dominique Rushton 3-4 2-2 8; Lucas Pennington 2-2 0-0 5; Adam Bair2-2 0-0 5; Tony Meyer 0-3 4-4 4; Taylor Kuhlman 1-2 2-2 4; Logan Conley 1-10-0 2; Reco Spears 0-6 0-0 0; Isiah Roux 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-48 15-18 72.
GETTYSBURG (0-2)
Alex Zurn 7-13 7-7 21; Benjamin Constable 2-3 6-8 10; Brendan Trelease 4-100-1 9; Tim Lang 4-9 0-2 9; Derek Brooks 4-8 0-0 8; Christian Bors 2-6 1-2 5;Joe Emerusabe 1-4 2-2 4; Larry Geedey 1-1 0-0 3; Connor Poston 1-1 0-0 2;Sean Gordon 0-0 0-0 0; JoJo Savaglio 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-56 16-22 71.
Ohio Northern.................   32   31    9  -   72
Gettysburg....................   32   31    8  -   71
3-point goals--Ohio Northern 5-9 (Brandon Rushton 2-2; Jared Horstman 1-2;Adam Bair 1-1; Lucas Pennington 1-1; Reco Spears 0-1; Tony Meyer 0-2),Gettysburg 3-17 (Larry Geedey 1-1; Tim Lang 1-2; Brendan Trelease 1-6; JoeEmerusabe 0-3; Derek Brooks 0-3; Alex Zurn 0-2). Fouled out--OhioNorthern-Scott Schnelle; Dominique Rushton, Gettysburg-None. Rebounds--OhioNorthern 26 (Scott Schnelle 7), Gettysburg 28 (Christian Bors 5; Alex Zurn5). Assists--Ohio Northern 11 (Tony Meyer 3), Gettysburg 14 (Christian Bors5). Total fouls--Ohio Northern 26, Gettysburg 19. Technical fouls--OhioNorthern-None, Gettysburg-None. A-224Gettysburg Days Inn Tournament - First Round