HIRAM, Ohio - Four players scored in double figures as Allegheny came back from a four-point halftime deficit to pull away for a 76-59 victory at Hiram College in the 2014-15 North Coast Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

Allegheny (4-3, 1-0 NCAC), which trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half, outscored Hiram (5-1, 0-1 NCAC) 44-23 over the final 20 minutes of play to snap a two-game losing skid and establish a new season-high for scoring output.

Evan Zabriski led a balanced Gator offense with 19 points, while Josh Valentic added 17, Brandon Smith 12, and Isaiah Henderson a career-high 10 coming off the bench.  Zabriski and Evan Schweitzer shared the team lead in rebounds for the Gators with seven apiece, as Allegheny held an impressive 46-30 margin on the glass.

The teams traded baskets in a fast-paced early going, as the teams were tied at 15 just five minutes into play.  Over the span, Valentic scored eight points and Zabriski five, with the Gators scoring on six of their first eight possessions.

Hiram quickly countered, using a pressing and trapping defense to embark on an 11-0 run, forcing turnovers on four straight Gator possessions, to open up a 26-15 advantage with 11:47 left in the first half.  Led by Henderson, the Gators bounced right back, as the freshman scored six points in a three-minute span to spur a 12-2 Allegheny run that pulled the visitors to within one, 28-27, with just over six minutes remaining in the half.  The Terriers twice pushed their lead to five over the final minutes, but Zabriski scored on Allegheny's penultimate possession of the half to send the game into intermission with Hiram up 35-32.

The Gators, who out-scored Hiram 17-9 over the final 11 minutes of the half, out-rebounded the Terriers 22-15 in the half, including 10 offensive boards.  Allegheny also connected on three of five attempts from long range, with Valentic going 2-for-3, while owning a 16-14 advantage in points in the paint.

The Terriers registered the first point of the second half with a free throw 12 seconds in, but after that, it was all Allegheny.  Holding the Terriers without a field goal for the first 4:37 of the half, the Gators scored eight unanswered points, capped off with baskets by Smith and Valentic, to retake the lead, 40-37, with 15:52 left in regulation.

Hiram used a pair of three-pointers to tie the game at 45, but the Gators promptly answered back in a team effort, as four players combined to lead Allegheny on a 13-2 run over the next four minutes.  Zabriski scored the first six points of the surge to make the score 51-47, before a lay up by Henderson and a conventional three-point play by Donte Wallette gave the Gators a 56-47 lead with 10 minutes left.  A jumper by Valentic at the 9:18 mark then gave Allegheny its first double-digit lead of the night, 58-47.

With 8:15 left, Hiram scored to temporarily halt the Gator run and cut the deficit to single-digits at 58-49, but Allegheny would then pull away. A pair of baskets by Smith, followed by an Andrew Sestina lay up, gave Allegheny a 70-54 advantage with 3:15 left and put the game out of reach for Hiram, which managed just two field goals over the game's final seven minutes.

In the decisive second half, the Gators shot 61 percent (17-for-28) from the field, while limiting Hiram to an 8-for-30 mark, and out-rebounded the Terriers 24-14,  For the game, Allegheny ended with a 53.6 field goal percentage (30-for-56), compared to Hiram's 36 percent performance (22-for-60).  The Gators also held a decisive edge in both points in the paint (44-20) and free throw shooting, connecting on 11 of 18 attempts from the stripe to the Terriers' 7-for-19.  

Hiram was led on the scoresheet by JJ Woodson, who scored 15 points, and Jeremiah Thomas, who added 10.  Woodson also led the team with eight rebounds.

The Gators will return to action on Saturday, when they host NCAC foe Wittenberg at 1 p.m. in the David V. Wise Center.