CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. – After leading for the duration of the first half, the Gators went cold over the second stanza, falling 81-58 at Wabash.

The host Little Giants opened the second half on a 22-8 run and never looked back, shooting 57 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes, while limiting the Gators to just seven second half field goals.

The junior tandem of Conor Macomber and Evan Zabriski led Allegheny on the score sheet, each bucketing 15 points, while senior Brandon Smith scored 13, going 6-for-7 from the field.  Zabriski also paced the Gators with eight rebounds, but the Little Giants held a 35-24 advantage on the glass, including an 18-10 margin over the decisive second half.

As evidenced by the rebounding numbers, the Little Giants did the bulk of their damage from the post.  Wabash owned a 36-20 advantage in points in the paint, led by center Dan Purvlicis, who topped his team with 26 points and eight rebounds, while connecting on 13 of 15 attempts from the floor.

The Little Giants opened the first half by taking leads of 7-0 and 9-4, but the Gators quickly heated up, using an 8-0 run that was capped off by a two-handed Zabriski fast break slam to go up 12-9 with 12:20 left in the half.

Wabash cut the gap to 17-16 at the midpoint of the half, before Zabriski scored five points in a 40-second span, with a long three-pointer and a baseline jumper, to open a 24-16 advantage at the 8-minute mark. 

Three-pointers from Antonio Frisina and Macomber allowed the Gators to maintain a seven-point cushion, 30-23, with 4:30 remaining.  A 7-2 Wabash run trimmed the advantage to 32-30 with 90 seconds left in the half, but Macomber's second trey of the half pushed the lead back to five with 1:15 to go.  The Little Giants would connect on a three for the final points of the half to send the game into the intermission with Allegheny up 35-33.

Allegheny (15-for-30) and Wabash (14-for-27) each shot at a 50 percent clip over the first half, while the Gators connected on five treys to Wabash's four.  Allegheny also did a fine job in taking care of the basketball, committing just three turnovers, their fewest in a half this season.

Wabash scored the first six points of the second half to open up a 39-35 lead at the 17-minute mark.  A reverse layup by Frisina temporarily halted the Wabash run, but the Little Giants quickly regained the momentum by scoring seven straight points to up their advantage to 46-37 with 14 minutes left.

Four points by Macomber and a jumper from Zabriski allowed the Gators to remain within single digits as the game entered its final eight minutes, but the Little Giants put the game out of reach with a 17-3 run over a five-minute span to open up a 72-50 lead with just over three minute left.  During the decisive run, Wabash scored on six of seven possessions, while limiting the Gators to just three free throws, and no field goals.

The Little Giants fired on all cylinders over the second half, shooting 57 percent from the field (17-for-30) compared to the Gators' 7-for-21 performance. Wabash also scored 16 points off of eight Allegheny turnovers, while they grabbed 18 second half rebounds to the Gators' 11. 

The Gators will look to bounce back on Wednesday, Feb. 10, when they host NCAC foe Oberlin for an 8 p.m. contest at the David V. Wise Center.