MEADVILLE, Pa. - Four players scored in double figures to lead Allegheny to a 75-65 victory over Oberlin in a North Coast Athletic Conference matchup in the David V. Wise Center.

Tied at 45-all at the half, the Gators (5-11, 2-7 NCAC) held the Yeomen (1-14, 0-8 NCAC) to just 27 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes, and sealed the game with another strong free throw shooting performance down the stretch.

Freshman Jordan Rawls led all scorers with 18 points, including 11 in the decisive second half, while fellow rookie Brendan O'Toole (pictured above), senior Evan Zabriski, and sophomore Billy Urso each totaled 14 points in the win.

For the game, the Gators shot a solid 52 percent from the field, including a 9-for-19 mark from behind the three-point arc, while they cashed in on 14 of 16 attempts from the foul line.

The teams traded the lead in the early going, with five ties and five lead changes over the first eight minutes of play, before the Gators threatened to pull away near the halfway mark of the opening stanza.  Tied at 18 with 12:01 until the intermission, a three-pointer from the right wing by Zabriski kick started a quick 12-2 Gator run.  After a hook shot in the paint from O'Toole, Urso scored five points in a 30-second span, before O'Toole closed the surge with a fast break layup off a long outlet pass from Zabriski to push the Gators in front 30-20 with 9:13 left in the half.

Allegheny's lead hovered between seven and 10 points over the next four minutes, before Oberlin got hot from the outside, hitting three-pointers on three straight possessions to cut the gap to two, 40-38, with 2:33 remaining.  A bucket inside from O'Toole would give the Gators a two-point lead with just inside two minutes left, before Oberlin's Charles Tidemann scored on a layup on his team's final possession of the frame to tie the game at 42 at the break.

Both teams' offenses were efficient over the first 20 minutes, with the Gators shooting 55 percent (16-for-29) from the field, and 6-for-11 from deep, and the Yeomen an impressive 67 percent (16-for-24) overall, and 6-for-10 from long range.  O'Toole led the Gators with 13 first half points, on 6-of-7 shooting, while Urso entered the intermission with 11 points, highlighted by a 3-for-3 mark from international waters.

Each team scored in the opening minute of the second half, before the Allegheny defense clamped down, forcing three turnovers and limiting the Yeomen to just one field goal over the next nine minutes. Spurred by the defense, the Gators embarked on a run that would provide some much-needed breathing room.  After Conor Macomber sent home a pair of free throws at the 17:30 mark, Rawls connected on a three from the top of the key to push the Gators in front 49-44 with just inside 16 minutes left.  Three minutes later, Zabriski scored on a transition bucket off of a Zach Shedd blocked shot, before the most recent entry in Allegheny's 1,000-point club connected on a long three-pointer with 11 minutes left to cap off a 9-0 Gator run and put the hosts in front 56-47.

The Yeomen looked to fight back, twice pulling to within four points over the next six minutes, but each time the Gators answered.  After Oberlin cut it to 58-54 with 7:24 left, Urso nailed his fourth trifecta of the night.  Three minutes later, the Yeomen pulled to within 63-59, but Macomber's foul line jumper on the ensuing trip put the Gators in front 65-59, and the lead would grow from there.

Leading 67-61 with 1:40 left, the Gators' Jamison Nee put the game away for good when he picked off a steal just inside half court and connected on a conventional three-point play to up the hosts' advantage to 10.  Nee would proceed to go a perfect 4-for-4 from the foul line over the final 80 seconds to seal the much-needed conference win for the Gators.

Over the second half, the Gators continued to display an efficient offense, shooting 48 percent from the field (10-for-21) and 10-for-12 from the foul line.  Conversely, Oberlin's shooters went just 9-for-33 in the final 20 minutes, including a 2-for-11 mark from downtown.

The two squads finished deadlocked on the glass with 29 rebounds apiece, with O'Toole and Rawls tying for game-high honors with eight boards each.  O'Toole led the way with four assists, Rawls with three blocked shots, and Nee with four steals to go along with nine points.

The Yeomen were led on the score sheet by Jack Poyle's 15 points, while Christian Fioretti added nine.  

Allegheny will take to the road for its next conference bout, traveling to Springfield, Ohio to face Wittenberg on Saturday, Jan. 21.  The Gators will be looking to exact revenge on the Tigers, who handed Allegheny an 89-69 defeat in their conference opener on Dec. 3 in Meadville.