SCRANTON, Pa. – Playing its final non-conference game of the regular season, the Gettysburg College men's basketball team came up on the short end of a 75-40 decision at the University of Scranton Wednesday evening.

The Bullets (3-8) never led after falling behind 16-5 to open the game as the Royals made seven of their first 10 shots. Scranton would stay hot and finished the night shooting 52.8 percent from the field, including 47.6 percent (10-of-21) from 3-point range.

Freshman guard Nick Antolini led the Bullets offensively with 11 points, marking his third-straight game of scoring in double figures. Senior forward Cody Kiefer posted eight points, seven rebounds, and four assists while freshman guard Nick Lord added a season-high eight points.

John Vitkus led Scranton (9-3) with 14 points, eight rebounds, and five blocked shots. Mitch Cross added 14 points on 4-of-5 3-point shooting while Kevin Doolan contributed eight points and eight assists.

The two teams were meeting for the first time in exactly 13 years, when the Bullets earned an 84-60 victory at Scranton.

Gettysburg trailed 21-9 midway through the opening half, but senior guard Pete Christ and Lord each buried a 3-pointer to help chip away at the deficit. Kiefer converted a lay-up to make it a nine-point game (26-17) with 9:16 left, but that's when Scranton reeled off a 9-0 run, capped by consecutive 3-pointers from Cross, to open up an 18-point lead with 5:53 remaining. The Royals went on to outscore the Bullets 7-2 the rest of the half to assume a 42-19 lead at the break.

Scranton shot 57.1 percent in the opening half, including 53.8 percent (7-for-13) from 3-point range. The Bullets were held to 33.3 percent shooting and committed 13 turnovers during the opening period.

The Royals put the game out of reach at the start of the second half with a 13-0 run, and their lead swelled to 55-19 with 13:58 remaining.

Scranton kept the Bullets off the scoreboard until the 11:39 mark of the second half. However, Gettysburg ended the drought with an 11-2 run to make it 57-30 with 9:03 to go, as Antolini and Lord scored all 11 points during the stretch. But the Royals settled any doubt with an ensuing 11-2 surge.