MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – The Gettysburg College men's basketball team fell 86-71 at Penn State Harrisburg in its season opener on day one of the two-day Penn State Harrisburg Tip-Off Tournament in Middletown, Pa.
The Bullets will now face Lebanon Valley College in the tournament consolation game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Junior guard
Nick Lord (Millersville, Pa./Penn Manor) scored a team-high 18 points for Gettysburg, which was facing Penn State Harrisburg for just the second time in program history. The Lions also won the inaugural meeting, 71-65, on Nov. 16, 2013. Junior guard
Nick Antolini (Babylon, N.Y./Babylon) contributed 14 points, nine rebounds, and three assists for the Bullets while junior transfer
Andrew Gardiner (Los Angeles, Calif./Wesleyan University) notched 12 points for his first appearance in the Orange and Blue.
Donyae Baylor-Carrol posted 20 points and five assists to lead Penn State Harrisburg to its first victory of the season. Chris Bing added 16 points and five rebounds for the Lions, who held a 38-37 rebound advantage. The Lions also shot 50.8 percent from the field and 47.4 percent from behind the arc.
Sophomore
Avery Close (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville) scored five of the Bullets first eight points in the opening minutes of the first half to help Gettysburg with an 8-2 run. The Bullets went on to hold the lead for the next few minutes until the Lions went on a 13-0 run to take the 21-12 advantage with 10:58 on the clock. Gettysburg came within three points off a layup from Lord a few minutes later, but that was the closes the squad would get as the Lions knocked down a three-pointer and layup in the final 1:17 to head into intermission with the 43-35 lead. Lord scored 11 points for Gettysburg while Penn State Harrisburg shot 56.7 percent from the field in the opening half.
Gettysburg was unable to get anything rolling offensively while the Lions came out hot, going on a 12-5 run in the first five minutes of the second half. A free throw by freshman
Jack Rooney (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) and a 3-pointer from junior
Churon Lanier-Martin (Chester, Pa./Milton Hershey) allowed the Bullets to get within 12 points at the 13:52 marker. Over the next several minutes, the Lions soared by going on a 27-13 run to push their lead to 26 points. The Bullets scored nine straight points in the final two minutes, including back-to-back 3-pointers, but the Lions sealed the 86-71 victory.
