GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Junior forward Connor Poston scored a career-high 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds as Gettysburg shot a season-best 63.2 percent from the floor en route to an offensively-charged 86-61 Centennial Conference victory over Haverford College in Bream Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.
The Bullets (9-8, 5-5 CC) also recorded their highest scoring output since a 91-78 victory over Washington College in the 2010 Centennial Conference semifinals. In addition, the team's 22 assists were the most since the Bullets also had 22 in a 79-70 loss at Muhlenberg last January.
Poston, who shot 8-for-9 from the floor, exceeded his previous career-best by nine points. Senior Alex Zurn added 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting while dishing out four assists and blocking two shots. He now has 50 blocks for his career, which moves him into a tie for 10th all-time at Gettysburg.
Senior center Benjamin Constable, making his first start of the season, contributed 13 points, a career-high eight assists, and three blocked shots while shooting 5-for-6. His eight assists were the most by a Bullet this season and the most by a Gettysburg player since Sean Gordon had eight in an overtime loss on Jan. 7 of last year.
Gettysburg, which led by nearly 30 midway through the second half, played all but one of the 14 Bullets who dressed, and 10 players scored a point. Freshmen Joey Kacmarsky and Rijad Sabanovic each scored their first collegiate points.
Senior guard Cam Baker scored 12 points for Haverford (5-10, 3-7 CC) while junior forward Brett Cohen, sophomore guard Lucas Colombo, and freshman guard Anthony Reyes added 11 points apiece.
With the win, the two teams came away with a season split, as the Fords topped the Bullets 57-56 on a last-second 3-pointer back on Dec. 1.
Gettysburg never trailed and raced out to a 17-6 lead following a trey from sophomore guard Joe Emerusabe with 13:31 left in the first half. However, the Fords climbed back into with an 11-2 run, and a lay-up from sophomore guard Gibby Graves made it 19-17 with 9:01 remaining in the period.
The Bullets answered, however, and an 18-4 outburst pushed their advantage to 16 (37-21) with 3:23 on the clock after a 3-pointer from Zurn. The lead ballooned to 21 after a lay-up from freshman guard Sango Amolo with 43 seconds left before Reyes connected from beyond the arc to make it a 44-26 game at the break.
Gettysburg shot 67.9 percent in the opening half, with Zurn leading the way with 12 points.
A 14-7 run to open the second half, which included a soaring dunk from Zurn, gave the Orange and Blue a commanding 58-33 advantage with 14:45 left. The surplus reached as much as 29 on three occasions, the last time coming on a fast-break lay-up from Emerusabe with 7:09 showing. The Fords were unable to get closer than 23 the rest of the way.