MEADVILLE, Pa. – Ohio Wesleyan spoiled Allegheny's 2014-15 home finale, and clinched at least a share of the North Coast Athletic Conference's regular season title, with an 80-66 victory over the Gators at the Wise Center.

The Gators (10-13, 7-9 NCAC), who suffered their fourth straight defeat, were unable to recover from a late first half run from Ohio Wesleyan (19-4, 14-2) that allowed the Battling Bishops to open up a double-digit halftime lead.

Four of the Gators' five starters scored in double figures, led by the duo of senior Josh Valentic and sophomore Evan Zabriski, who each scored 17 points.  Junior Evan Schweitzer narrowly missed recording his first career double-double, scoring 11 points with a team-best nine rebounds, while freshman Donte Wallette recorded season-highs of 10 points and seven rebounds in his first career start.

Both teams came out of the gates on fire, as the Gators and Battling Bishops combined for nine field goals, with two three-point field goals apiece, over an opening five minutes from which Ohio Wesleyan emerged with a 14-11 lead.  The Battling Bishops then threatened to pull away early, using a 13-5 run over a four-minute span to open up a 26-16 advantage with 11 minutes left in the half.

The Gators would chip away, with a Valentic jumper and a Schweitzer coast-to-coast layup cutting the deficit to 28-23 with 7:30 remaining until the break.
Ohio Wesleyan responded with another lengthy run, outscoring the Gators 11-0 over the next four minutes, capped off with a pair of three-pointer from Nick Felhaber, to go in front 39-23 with 3:32 to go in the half.

Allegheny was able to cut into the Ohio Wesleyan lead in the final two minutes, with a Chris Koryak offensive put back, followed by a conventional three-point play from Wallette, sending the game into halftime with the Battling Bishops in front 42-30.

In the first half, the Battling Bishops shot an even 50 percent from the field (16-for-32), including a 7-for-15 showing from long range.  Allegheny went 12-for-28 from the floor (42 percent) and just 3-for-11 from distance, while also committing seven turnovers that led to 13 Ohio Wesleyan points
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Ohio Wesleyan opened the second frame by taking a 46-32 lead with 17:30 left, before the Gators cut into the deficit with a quick 8-0 run, on four points from Zabriski and two apiece by Valentic and Conor Macomber, to close the gap to 46-40 at the 15-minute mark.

The Battling Bishops quickly countered by scoring 11 unanswered points over just 2:38 to open up its largest lead of the game,  57-40, with 11:22 to go.

The Gators gradually chipped away at the deficit, with Zabriski scoring six points in a three minute span to close the gap to 63-52 with 6:47 to go.  Allegheny continued to battle, with five straight points from Valentic cutting the deficit to single digits, 70-61, with 3:08 left, before a corner three from Wallette made it a 70-64 game with 2:28 remaining.

It was as close as the Gators could get, however, as on the subsequent possession, a conventional three-point play by the Bishops' Claude Gray pushed the lead back up to nine with just over two minutes remaining.  Forced to foul over the game's final 90 seconds, Allegheny watched Ohio Wesleyan go 7-for-8 from the charity stripe to close out the victory.

Gray led both sides with 25 points and six assists, and was one of four Ohio Wesleyan players to score in double-figures, as Felhaber, Matt Jeske, and Ben Simpson each went for 14 points.  Felhaber connected on four three-pointers on the afternoon, while Simpson added game-highs of 12 rebounds and four steals.

After watching the Battling Bishops shoot 50 percent in the first half, the Gator defense allowed the visitors to shoot just 37 percent (12-for-32) over the game's final 20 minutes, including a 2-for-10 mark from behind the arc.  Allegheny shot 45 percent from the field (14-for-31) with three three-pointers in the second half, but the difference came at the foul line, as the Bishops shot 12-for-13, compared to a 5-for-6 mark by the Gators.

Allegheny will now take to the road for the final week of the regular season, beginning with Wednesday's 7:30 p.m. contest at Wooster and closing with Saturday's 3 p.m. matchup at Denison.  Following the loss to Ohio Wesleyan, the Gators sit in a three-way tie for fifth place in the NCAC standings, with the top eight teams qualifying for the NCAC championship tournament that begins on Tues. Feb. 24.