GETTYSBURG, Pa. - Gettysburg erased an 11-point second-half deficit, but visiting York (Pa.) College ended the game on an 8-1 run and the Bullets dropped a 59-52 decision in their season and home opener in non-conference men's basketball action Tuesday evening in Bream Gym.
 
Senior guard Pete Christ scored 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 4-of-6 marksmanship from beyond the arc, to lead the Bullets while senior center Mlynue Reeves added a career-high 14 points.
 
Senior center Tanner Kirkpatrick netted 10 points for Gettysburg while playing just 15 minutes due to foul trouble while senior forward Cody Kiefer registered a strong all-around game with 10 rebounds, seven assists, and a career-high four blocked shots.
 
Matt Scamuffo scored 16 points to lead the Spartans, who were also playing their season opener. Dalton Myers added 11 points for York while Jared Wagner contributed eight points, four rebounds, and four steals.
 
Gettysburg trailed 37-26 with 14:41 left, and the Spartans still led 41-32 with 11:00 remaining after a steal and dunk from York's Darin Gordon. But that's when the Bullets dug in defensively while putting together a 16-4 run over the next 6:40. Reeves kicked off the spurt with a lay-up and went on to score six points during the stretch. Christ then scored five straight points, including a coast-to-coast steal and lay-up, to pull the Bullets to within two (41-39) with 8:17 left.
 
Freshman Danny Duffey finished off a fastbreak dish from Kiefer with 5:29 remaining to deadlock the score at 45, and Christ gave the hosts their first lead since the 18:55 mark of the first half when he drained a 3-pointer with 4:20 left. A free throw from Kirkpatrick with 2:43 to go gave Gettysburg its largest lead (51-47) of the night, but the Bullets would manage just one point the rest of the way.
 
York took the lead for good on a tip-in by Zach Galic with 1:41 left, making it 52-51. Reeves split a pair of free throws with 36 seconds remaining to draw Gettysburg to within two (54-52), and the Bullets quickly fouled in the backcourt. But Jared Wagner went 2-for-2 at the line to nudge York's lead to four, and after a missed Gettysburg 3-pointer, Wagner iced it by making two more free throws with 11 ticks showing.
 
The Bullets led just once in a first half that was controlled by defense. After a Kirkpatrick triple made it 6-6 just over four minutes into the contest, the Spartans held the hosts to a free throw over the next 10 minutes and pushed their lead to 16-7 with 6:33 left. Christ snapped the drought with 5:56 on the clock when he knocked down his second trey of the night, and the Bullets would end the half on a 5-0 spurt, capped by a Kiefer 3-pointer with 14 seconds left, to pull to within 24-20 at the intermission.
 
Kirkpatrick dropped in a lay-up six seconds into the second half to bring his team to with two, but York answered with an 8-2 surge top push its lead to eight before eventually extending it to 11.