GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Four Bullets scored in double figures and the Gettysburg College men's basketball team led from start to finish in the Centennial Conference (CC) victory over Franklin & Marshall College on Tuesday night in Bream Gym, 84-71. Tonight's game marked the CC opener for both teams.
 
The last time a Gettysburg head coach won his first meeting with F&M was 41 years ago when Dave Rahn was at the helm of the program during the 1977-78 season.
 
The Bullets were hot from the floor, shooting 30-for-54 from the field (55.6 percent), which is their season-best, and hitting 17-for-23 at the foul line (73.9 percent).
 
Gettysburg, which never trailed the entire game, held F&M, who made it to the NCAA Division III Sweet 16 a season ago, to 40.0 percent shooting, including 25.0 percent (8-for-32) from 3-point range.
 
Junior Nick Antolini (Babylon, N.Y./Babylon) led the Bullets with 22 points and tying his career-high 11 rebounds for the third time this season. Junior Nick Lord (Millersville, Pa./Penn Manor) netted a career-high 21 points and six boards, while sophomore Avery Close (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville) and junior Danny Duffey (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Lower Moreland) each contributed 14 and 10 points, respectively. Close added two blocks and Duffey handed out five assists.
 
Four Diplomat players scored in double figures as well with Justin Kupa leading the squad with 18 points. Matt Redhead and Ignas Slyka each tallied 13 points while J.C. McGrath chipped in 10 points and a team-high 11 rebounds.  
 
The first three minutes resulted in back-and-forth action as both squads scored three consecutive baskets, which included the only tie of the game at the 16:48 marker off a 3-pointer from Mike Rice. From there, the Bullets rolled as they outscored the Diplomats 18-12, giving Gettysburg the 26-18 advantage with 9:31 on the clock. F&M refused to go quietly as they used an 11-4 run during the next two minutes to crawl within one (30-29). Gettysburg continued with the hot hands as they finished off the half with a 10-5 run to head into intermission with the 40-34 lead. The Bullets shot an astonishing 60.7 percent from the field and held the Diplomats to 38.2 percent from the floor.   
 
A 3-pointer from junior Andrew Gardiner (Los Angeles, Calif./Wesleyan University) extended the Bullets advantage to 11 (52-41) after opening the second half on a 12-7 run. After trailing by 11, the Diplomats chipped away at the deficit and came all the way back to get within one point, (56-55) with under eight minutes to play. A 3-pointer by freshman Jack Rooney (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) started the offensive flow, once again, as the Diplomats never came within one point again. F&M only netted 16 points the rest of the game, while Gettysburg tacked on 26 more with Antolini scoring 10, highlighted by a dunk and trey, and Lord tallying eight to help the Bullets win their CC opener.
 
Gettysburg is now 116-105 against Franklin & Marshall in the all-time series that dates all the way back to 1902-03.
 
Gettysburg picks up its schedule on Thursday, Nov. 29, when it visits McDaniel College at 7 p.m. in another Centennial Conference affair.