MEADVILLE, Pa. - A 12-0 run midway through the second half propelled visiting Oberlin to a 74-56 win over the Gators at the David V. Wise Center.

Trailing 34-30 at the half, the Gators rallied to tie the game at 42-all with just over 15 minutes left in regulation.  Oberlin countered with 12 unanswered points, and maintained a double-digit lead down the stretch to close out the win.  

Junior Evan Zabriski scored 18 points and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds, while senior Brandon Smith added 13 points, but the Gators were hampered by a poor offensive showing over the final 20 minutes, going just 8-for-24 from the field, while the visiting Yeomen shot a blistering 59 percent over the second half, and 54 percent for the game.

As was the case in the first meeting between the two squads on Jan. 13, the Yeomen got off to a strong start, using four three-pointers to open up a 14-4 lead with 14 minutes left in the opening stanza.  

The Gators would then wrest the momentum, with six points from Zabriski over a 90-second span cutting the gap to 17-10 at the 12-minute mark.  Buckets from Conor Macomber and Andrew Sestina trimmed the deficit to 18-14 at the 10-minute mark, before Evan Schweitzer connected on a driving layup and a long three-pointer to close out a long 16-5 run and pull the Gators to within 20-19 with 6:45 remaining in the half.

The back-and-forth theme continued, as Oberlin scored the next 10 points to regain a double-digit lead, 30-19, with 3:07 left to play.

Allegheny countered to close the gap in the closing minutes of the opening half.  Zabriski scored six points, with a three-pointer from the right wing and a conventional three-point play with 90 seconds remaining, before Smith ended the half by connecting on his own three-point play just before the buzzer to seal an 11-4 run and send the game into the intermission with Oberlin leading 34-30.

Over the first half, the Yeomen shot 54 percent from the field, and an impressive 6-for-12 from behind the arc, but the Gators, who owned a 16-12 advantage in rebounds, stayed in the game thanks to nine second-half points off of seven offensive boards, and by scoring 12 points off of 10 Oberlin turnovers.

The Gators kept the momentum in the opening stages of the second half.  Smith scored four points in the first two minutes, before Billy Urso connected on three-pointers on consecutive possessions, to tie the game at 40 with 16:22 left.  Forty seconds later, a Zabriski layup would again knot the score at 42, but the Gators would go cold and Oberlin charged back, scoring 12 unanswered points over the next six minutes to again open up a double-digit lead, 54-42, with 9:10 remaning in regulation. 

Layups by Chris Koryak and Schweitzer, followed by a pair of Smith free throws, brought the Gators to within 10 with just over four minutes left to play, but Oberlin put the game away with a 13-1 run over the next two minutes to go up 71-49 with just over two minutes remaining and seal the victory.

Urso and Schweitzer each added eight points for the Gators, with the former posting a team-best three assists and the latter a team-leading two steals, while Sestina paced the Blue and Gold with two blocked shots.  Allegheny turned in a strong effort at the free throw line, going 10-for-12, highlighted by a 5-for-5 performance from Smith. 

Oberlin was led by 19 points from Jack Poyle and 14 from Eli Silverman-Lloyd, while Randy Ollie scored nine points with seven rebounds and two blocks.

The Gators will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 13, traveling to Delaware, Ohio for their final road contest of the regular season, a 3 p.m. tilt against conference-leading Ohio Wesleyan.