WESTMINSTER, Md. – Gettysburg College nearly saw its 17-point second-half advantage over McDaniel College erased in the final 10 minutes of action, but the Bullets managed to hold on for a 60-56 victory in Centennial Conference inside the Gill Center Thursday night.
 
Gettysburg (3-4, 2-0 CC) led 47-30 with 10:48 to play following an old-fashioned three-point play by senior Alec Warren (Medford, N.J./Shawnee). McDaniel (2-3, 0-2 CC) turned in a furious rally and had a chance to tie it with a pair of free throws in the final seconds. The first missed the mark and a lane violation was called on the second to hand the Orange and Blue the win.
 
Sophomore Avery Close (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville) turned in a game-high 16 points by going 6-of-9 from the floor and 4-of-6 from the free throw line. He also tied his personal best with three blocked shots. Junior Nick Antolini (Babylon, N.Y./Babylon) turned in his fourth double-double of the year with 11 points and a career-high tying 11 rebounds, while junior Andrew Gardiner (Pacific Palisades, Calif./Brentwood School) posted 10 points.
 
Thirteen players reached the scoring column for McDaniel. DJ Harper and Mike Wallace each tallied nine points with Harper also posting 11 rebounds, three assists, and four steals.
 
Gettysburg never trailed in the game, jumping in front with four points from Close to start and then pulling in front by 10 (19-9) on one of freshman Jack Rooney's (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) three first-half three-pointers. The advantage reached 15 (26-11) with five minutes remaining in the period before settling at 30-21 at the half.
 
McDaniel sliced the margin down to six (32-26) on a three-point play by Kaelen Kanealey early in the final stanza. Gettysburg heated up from distance, knocking down three consecutive three-pointers by sophomore Danny Bomberger (Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster Catholic), Antolini, and Gardiner. A free throw by sophomore Evan Czulada (York, Pa./Central) capped the 10-0 run and made it 42-26 with 13:13 remaining.
 
The Green Terror began to chip away at the deficit in the final 10 minutes and back-to-back buckets by Dragan Hornatko trimmed it down to single-digits at 52-43 with 5:47 to go. The teams traded blows over the next two minutes with a lay-up by Antolini maintaining the nine-point margin at 58-49 with 3:31 on the clock.
 
McDaniel held Gettysburg without a field goal while forcing three turnovers in the final minutes of action. The Green Terror rattled off the next seven points with a free throw shot by Harper making it 58-56 with seven seconds left. Following a missed free throw by the Bullets, Josh Sproul had an opportunity to tie the game in the final second, but his first attempt from the charity stripe was off and he crossed the line too quickly on attempted miss on the second try. Close knocked down two free throws to seal the win.
 
Gettysburg finished 21-of-56 (37.5 percent) from the floor, including 8-of-27 (29.6 percent) from beyond the arc. McDaniel finished 18-of-56 (32.1 percent) and hit 4-of-21 (19 percent) three-point tries. The Green Terror out-rebounded the Bullets 42-36.
 
Gettysburg visits Haverford College as part of a doubleheader with the women this Saturday at 3 p.m.