PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Allegheny senior Evan Zabriski scored a team-high 17 points, including the 1,000th of his career, but the Gators were unable to overcome a hot-shooting La Roche squad, with the host Redhawks posting a 97-59 victory to extend their winning streak to six. 

Zabriski, who reached the career milestone on a lay up 90 seconds into the second half, was one of two Gators to reach double-figures, as freshman Jordan Rawls added 17 points and a team-best nine rebounds.  

Despite the two strong performances from the two forwards, Allegheny struggled offensively, committing 18 turnovers while shooting just 41 percent from the field, including a season-low 25 percent (7-for-28) from long range.  Conversely, La Roche shot 52 percent from the field, while going 15-for-29 from behind the arc.  The Redhawks also owned a 36-27 margin in rebounds, including 12 offensive rebounds that led to 16 second-chance points.

The teams traded buckets early on, with Billy Urso's three-pointer pulling the Gators to within two, 11-9, with just over 15 minutes left in the half.  The hosts would then erupt, scoring 16 unanswered points over the next four minutes, with a trio of trifectas over the span. to jump ahead 27-9 with 10:53 remaining. Allegheny looked to chip away at the deficit, receiving four points from Zabriski and a pair from Rawls in a 60-second span to cut the gap to 15, 36-16, at the midpoint of the half.

Again, the red-hot Redhakws countered in a big way, scoring on 11 of their next 13 possessions, and connecting on six three-pointers, to take a 66-32 halftime lead.

Over the first 20 minutes, La Roche shot a blistering 58 percent from the field (24-for-42), with 10 three-pointers and a perfect 8-for-8 mark from the foul line. In addition to their hot shooting, the Redhawks utilized an opportunistic defense, as they scored 26 points directly off of 11 Gator turnovers, while La Roche out-rebounded Allegheny 21-13 in the opening half.

After La Roche scored the first six points of the second half, Zabriski gave the Gators their first bucket of the frame with 17:34 left, reaching 1,000 points with the driving layup.  On the Gators' ensuing trip, Rawls followed with an emphatic dunk, before Zabriski's final two points of the night came in a similar fashion, as he threw down a slam just inside the 16-minute mark.

Despite trailing by a healthy margin, the Gators played the Redhawks basket-for-basket over the final 12 minutes of regulation, with seven different Allegheny players finding the scoresheet in the second stanza.  Rawls scored 10 of his 14 points over the game's final 17 minutes, going 4-for-6 from the field, while also pulling down six second half rebounds.  Zach Shedd had five second half points, connecting on both of his attempts from the field, while the final 10 minutes of regulation saw Zack Pateras and Joe Siegle each knock down three-pointers.  Defensively, the Gators limited the Redhawks to just 31 second second half points, but the halftime deficit proved too large to overcome.

Billy Urso added eight points for the Gators, while also posting a team-best four assists and knocking down a pair of shots from international waters.  Brendon Urso added three helpers, while Brendan O'Toole led Allegheny with two steals.

La Roche boasted a balanced scoring attack, with eight players scoring at least eight points, led by Ray Quan Phifer's 18 points.

The Gators will now have a 12-day respite, before opening up a two-game road swing through the state of Indiana with a 3 p.m. tilt on January 3 at DePauw.