OBERLIN, Ohio – A slow start to the second half doomed the Allegheny men's basketball team, as they were defeated 76-61 by Oberlin in a North Coast Athletic Conference matchup.
 
Leading 31-27 at the half, the Gators (5-11. 2-7 NCAC) saw Oberlin (8-8, 2-7 NCAC) open the second frame on a 16-0 run and were unable to recover. 
 
Freshman Lamar Todd led the Gators with 21 points, while sophomore teammate Jordan Rawls added 15 points, but the Gator offense struggled, shooting just 30 percent (20-for-67) from the field.
 
Rawls scored on a layup on the game's first possession, giving Allegheny a lead it would not relinquish for the opening 20 minutes.  The forward would score seven of the Gators' first eight points, as the visitors took an 8-2 lead with just over 16 minutes left in the half.
 
The Yeomen battled back to tie the game at 10 with 11:58 to go, but after buckets by Todd on consecutive possessions, followed by a long three-pointer by Zack Pateras, the Gators upped their lead to 17-12 at the 10-minute mark.
 
Billy Urso then got in on the act, connecting on three-pointers on three straight possessions to put the visitors up 26-18 with 6:38 remaining in the half.  The lead would grow to nine 50 seconds later on a free throw from Liam Wilby.
 
The Yeomen battled back to pull to cut the gap to two, 27-25, with just inside two minutes left, but the Gators would score four of the final six points of the half, with Todd and Nijon Kirkman each hitting a pair of free throws, to take a 31-27 lead at the intermission.
 
Over the first half, the Yeomen connected on 11 field goals to the Gators' 10, but the four-point halftime lead came thanks to the long ball, as Allegheny connected on five three-pointers, while holding Yeomen to an 0-for-3 mark from deep.  Additionally, the Gators scored eight points off of 10 Oberlin turnovers.
 
Oberlin came out of the intermission on fire.  The Yeomen picked up points on seven of its first eight possessions, including its first two three-pointers as well as a conventional three-point play, as they needed just four minutes to rattle off a 16-0 run and take a 43-31 lead with 16 minutes left in regulation.
 
After a time out, the Gators regrouped, and began to chip away at the deficit.  Rawls buried a mid-range jumper to snap the scoreless skid, before he and Pateras each hit two free throws to trim the gap to 43-37 with just inside 14 minutes left.  Ninety seconds later, Pateras connected on his second trey of the night to cap off a 10-1 run and pull the Gators to within three, 44-41, with 12:15 to go.
 
The Yeomen would then heat back up, as they countered the Gator surge with an 11-1 run of their own to open up a 57-42 advantage with 8:25 left.  Led by Todd, the Gators refused to go away, as he scored six points over the next two minutes, before a driving layup from Rawls brought the deficit back into single digits, 59-50, with 5:34 remaining.
 
Allegheny would get no closer, however, as the Yeomen hit four three-pointers over the next two minutes to pull away down the stretch.
 
Urso nearly joined Rawls and Todd in double figures on the scoresheet, as the junior scored nine points, while Pateras added eight.  Sean Dougherty grabbed a team-leading nine rebounds, and Liam Wilby paced the Gators with three steals.  
 
Eli Silverman-Lloyd scored a game-high 22 points for Oberlin, bolstered by a 6-for-8 performance from behind the arc, while teammate Christian Fiorelli tallied a triple-double with 15 points, 10 assists, and 10 rebounds. The Yeomen shot an even 50 percent (28-for-56) from the field, bolstered by a 64 percent showing (17-for-27) over the second half, which included nine three-point field goals in 13 tries. 
 
The Gators return to action on Saturday, Jan. 20, when they host NCAC leader Wittenberg in the Wise Center at 2 p.m.