MEADVILLE, Pa. – On the strength of 15 three-point field goals, visiting DePauw edged the Gators 67-64 in a back-and-forth North Coast Athletic Conference affair at the David V. Wise Center.

The Gators made two more field goals, two more free throws, committed two fewer turnovers, and grabbed seven more rebounds than the Tigers, but could not overcome DePauw's 15-6 edge in three-pointers.

Sophomore Donte Wallette paced Allegheny with 14 points, while freshman Carlos Torres scored a career-high 12.  Senior Evan Schweitzer paced the Gators with nine rebounds, as the hosts owned a 37-30 advantage on the glass.

DePauw scored the game's first six points, as the Gators misfired on their first six attempts from the field in the opening four minutes.  A three-pointer from freshman Antonio Frisina put the Gators on the board, before Wallette hit a trifecta of his own to tie the game at 6-all with 15 minutes left in the half.

Trailing by five at the midpoint of the half, the Gators used a quick 7-0 run to take their first lead, 15-13, with 8:15 left.  An offensive putback by Chris Koryak kickstarted the run, before a layup by Brandon Smith and another trey from Wallette gave the hosts the two-point advantage.

The Tigers quickly responded, using a pair of threes and a trio of free throws to jump ahead 25-19 with 4:39 left, before a jumper in transition gave DePauw its largest lead of the half, 27-19, at the four-minute mark.

The back-and-forth theme continued, with a conventional three-point play by Chris Milon spurring a lengthy 12-0 Allegheny run.  The Gators also received a pair of buckets from Evan Zabriski, a three from Billy Urso, and a tip-in by Brandon Smith over the surge, as they grabbed a 33-27 lead with just over a minute left in the half.

The lead wasn't safe, as the Tigers hit a pair of three-pointers in the half's final 10 seconds, including a buzzer beater by Adam Botts, to tie the game at 35-all at the break.

While each of DePauw's first four field goals of the second half came from behind the arc, the Gators kept pace, as Koryak scored five points in a 60-second span, highlighted by a traditional three-point play, to make the score 47-45 in favor of the Tigers with 12 minutes remaining in regulation.

DePauw looked to then pull away, pushing its lead to 58-51 with just over six minutes left, but behind Torres, the Gators again rallied back.  With 5:58 left, the speedy rookie came up with a strip steal and coast-to-coast layup, before connecting on a long three  40 seconds later.  DePauw scored the next four points, but Torres cut the gap to three after a traditional three-point play with 1:53 remaining.

With exactly a minute left, a Wallette layup brought the Gators to within one, 62-61, but the Tigers' Mason Hankins countered with his team's 15th trey of the afternoon – and ninth of the second half – to push the DePauw lead to 65-61 with 45 seconds to go.

The Gators' ensuing possession ended in a turnover, but the Tigers then missed the front end of a one-and-one with 12 seconds remaining.  Wallette quickly hit his third trifecta of the day to cut the gap to 65-64 with six seconds left, but DePauw's Luke Lattner hit a pair of free throws with three seconds left to close the game's scoring and allow his squad to escape with the win.

Allegheny saw five different players score at least seven points, as Wallette and Torres were joined by Brandon Smith, who scored eight, and Koryak and Zabriski, who each scored seven.  Smith narrowly missed the double-double, as he grabbed eight rebounds, while Urso dished a team-best four assists.

In addition to their 37-30 edge on the glass, the Gators also held a commanding advantage in points in the paint (26-4), while they turned in their best showing of the season at the foul line, going 10-for-11. 

DePauw's David Vogel scored a game-high 17 points, and was one of two Tigers to hit on four three-point attempts, joining Botts, who scored 12.  Fifteen of the Tigers' 22 field goals for the game came from long range.

The Gators will now have a quick turnaround, as they play the third game of a four-game homestand on Monday, facing off against NCAC foe Wabash at 3 p.m. at the Wise Center.