MEADVILLE, Pa. – Eighth-ranked Ohio Wesleyan came out on top of an offensive battle at the Wise Center, defeating the Gators 89-77.

Allegheny (2-11, 2-4 NCAC) saw four players score in double figures, and connected on a season-high 10 three-point field goals, but the Gators were unable to overcome a sharpshooting Ohio Wesleyan (12-1, 5-1 NCAC) squad that recorded 17 of its 29 field goals from behind the arc and boasted three players with over 20 points.

Senior Chris Milon went 8-for-9 from the field en-route to a team-best 19 points, while he narrowly missed a double-double, as he pulled down a team-best eight rebounds.  Freshman Billy Urso added a career-high 17 points, junior Conor Macomber 14, and junior Evan Zabriski 10.

Behind Urso, the Gators went basket for basket with the Bishops over the opening five minutes of play, as the freshman scored seven points in the span, after which OWU held a narrow 15-13 lead.  The visitors then caught fire, embarking on a 14-4 run, with eight points coming from Ben Simpson, to open up a 29-17 lead with 8:45 remaining in the half.

A layup from Milon and a long three-pointer by Evan Schweitzer cut the deficit to 33-26 with six minutes left, but the Battling Bishops again looked to pull away to close the half, hitting a trio of three-pointers in a four-minute span to eventually stretch their lead to 45-29 with just inside two minutes to go.  A Milon jumper in the paint with a minute left closed the scoring for the half, and sent the Gators into the locker room trailing 45-31.

Over the opening 20 minutes of play, both teams shot at a 50-percent clip, with the Gators going 14-for-28 and the Bishops 16-for-30.  However, the Battling Bishops connected on nine three-pointers to the Gators' four, while OWU also went 7-for-9 from the foul line, compared to a 2-for-2 showing by the Gators.

The Gators quickly cut the deficit to 10 to open up the second frame, as Carlos Torres scored five points in a 50-second span, before Urso sent home a pair of three-pointers, to make the score 55-45 at the 17-minute mark.  The momentum quickly went back to the Battling Bishops, however, as the visitors rattled off a 17-3 run over the next five minutes, fueled by 10 points from Seth Clark and seven by Claude Gray, to take a commanding 73-48 advantage with 11:53 to go in regulation.

Led by the veteran trio of Macomber, Milon, and Zabriski, the Gators would gradually chip away at the deficit.  After Macomber scored on three straight trips down the court, a long Zabriski three capped off a 10-2 Gator run that trimmed the score to 76-58 with 9:22 left.  Milon then scored six points in a three-minute span, while Zabriski added his second trey of the half, to pull the Gators to within 12, 79-67, with 5:36 remaining.

The Battling Bishops would then put the game away for good, scoring seven points over a 75-second span to push their lead to 86-67 with 4:21 to go, and the Gators were unable to recover, with the final margin of 12 points as close as they could come the rest of the way.

Gray, the reigning NCAC Player of the Year, topped OWU with 24 points, while Simpson added 23 and Nate Axelrod 20. 

For the second straight game, the Gators held a commanding edge in rebounding, grabbing 36 boards to the Bishops' 27, while Allegheny also owned a 28-22 margin in points in the paint.  Schweitzer led the hosts with four assists, while Macomber, Torres, and Chris Koryak dished three helpers apiece.

The Gators will now take to the road as they look to snap a five-game losing skid, beginning with a 7:30 p.m. contest on Wednesday, Jan. 13 at conference foe Oberlin.