HAVERFORD, Pa. – Senior Alec Warren (Medford, N.J./Shawnee), sophomore Avery Close (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville), junior Nick Antolini (Babylon, N.Y./Babylon), and junior Nick Lord (Millersville, Pa./Penn Manor) combined to score 53 points for the Gettysburg College men's basketball team in its loss to Haverford College Saturday evening in the Gooding '84 Arena.   
 
Antolini made a pair of critical free throws to put the Bullets ahead by two (70-68) with 1:22 left in the game. Moments later, the Fords hit back-to-back baskets at the 1:08 and three second marker to take the 72-70 game from Gettysburg.
 
Warren poured out a career-high with 18 points all of which came from the 3-point line. Close netted 13 points by going 5-of-9 from the floor and two blocks. Antolini and Lord each contributed 11 points. Antolini snagged a team-high seven rebounds while Close, Lord, and junior Andrew Gardiner (Pacific Palisades, Calif./Brentwood School) each posted six boards. Junior Danny Duffey (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Lower Moreland) dished out a team-best six assists while sophomore Evan Czulada (York, Pa./Central York) collected a career-high three steals.  
 
Joe Scibelli was the only player to record a double-double in the game with 17 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Fords. Pietro Berghella led the reserves with 12 points while Kahlil Garnes, and Jack Cork accumulated 10 points and seven rebounds each.
 
Baskets by Close, Gardiner, and Duffey helped the Bullets open up a 6-2 lead four minutes into the first half. Gettysburg reached its first double-digit advantage when Lord knocked down a trey with 7:52 left. The Bullets were feeling it from beyond the arc as Warren then drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead to the largest in the half at 14 (28-14). The Fords began to slice away at the deficit as Joe Hartman and Grayson Roth each made 3-pointers to close within five with under 2:16 to go. The hosts tacked on three more points in the final 1:16, but the Burg held on to the 33-31 lead at the half.
 
The Bullets came out firing in the second half by going a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. Close, Duffey, and Lord each made a trey to propel the Bullets to a 15-7 run, increasing the lead by 10 (48-38). Moments later, a three-point play by Lord gave Gettysburg the 11-point cushion (51-40) with 13:48 on the clock.

Haverford responded by going on a 10-0 run, holding Gettysburg scoreless over the next couple of minutes to pull within one. The Burg then went back on track when Warren drilled two treys and Antolini dunked on a fastbreak to put the squad ahead by seven (59-52) with under 6:17 to play.
 
Gettysburg continued to maintain the lead until the 1:33 marker when the hosts Joe Scibelli made a layup to tie the game at 68-68. Antolini then hit two essential free throws to regain the lead with 1:22 to go. On the next play, Close blocked Jack Corck's shot, but an offensive rebound and a layup by the Fords Jesse Turkson tied the game, once again.
 
The Orange and Blue had some opportunities to score in the final seconds, but were unable to connect. Kahlil Garnes hit the game-winning jumper to give the Fords their first Centennial Conference win with three seconds left.
 
Gettysburg (3-5, 2-1 CC) finished 23-of-65 (35.4 percent) from the floor, including 12-of-39 (30.8 percent) from the 3-point line. Haverford (3-4, 1-2 CC) concluded the game by going 33-of-77 (42.9 percent) and hit 3-of-21 (14.3 percent) from beyond the arc. The Fords out-rebounded the Bullets 54-38 and finished with 19 second chance points.
 
Gettysburg returns to Bream Gym to take on Johns Hopkins University on Wednesday at 7 p.m.