GREENCASTLE, Ind. - The Allegheny men's basketball team opened the 2017 calendar year by turning in its highest offensive output of the season, but a long run early in the second half propelled DePauw to a 100-91 victory.

After the Gators (3-8, 0-4 North Coast Athletic Conference) took a four-point lead at the half and an eight-point advantage with just inside 18 minutes left, DePauw (7-5, 3-2 NCAC) countered with a lengthy run to open up a double-digit lead at the midpoint of the second frame, and Allegheny was unable to recover.

A game removed from scoring his 1,000th career point, senior Evan Zabriski led four Gators to score in double-figures with 23 points.  Classmate Conor Macomber (pictured above) added 19 points, freshman Jamison Nee 16, and fellow rookie Brendan O'Toole a season-high 14.  O'Toole also added a team-leading eight rebounds, while Nee paced the Gators with six assists.

The two teams traded baskets in the opening two minutes of the first half, before the Gators used the three ball to control play for much of the opening stanza.  The visitors connected on six trifectas in the opening seven minutes of play, including three from Zabriski, to jump out to a 20-16 lead with 12:30 left.

The Tigers tied it at 22-all with exactly 10 minutes remaining, but the Gators countered with eight unanswered points in the next 80 seconds, capped off by a Zack Pateras three-pointer with 7:38 left that put Allegheny in front 30-22.  Sixty seconds later, a long ball from Macomber gave the Gators their largest lead of the half, 33-24.

DePauw chipped away at the deficit, eventually pulling to within five, 38-33, at the 3:15 mark, but Zabriski looked to give the Gators some breathing room heading into the intermission, as he scored seven points over the next minute, capped off with a fast break layup off of a Billy Urso steal, that put the Gators in front with 2:01 left in the half.  

After a bucket from O'Toole pushed the lead back up to nine with 1:36 remaining, the Tigers cut into the momentum heading into the break, closing the half with a 6-0 run to make the halftime score 47-44 in favor of the Gators.

The Allegheny offense clicked on all cylinders in the first half, as the Gators shot 57 percent from the field (16-for-28) and 56 percent from behind the arc (9-for-16), with eight different players finding the scoresheet.  Zabriski led both sides with 20 first half points, connecting on seven of 10 attempts from the floor, while Macomber entered the intermission with eight points, and Nee seven, on the strength of a perfect 2-for-2 mark from behind the arc.

On the opening trip of the second half, Zabriski hit his fourth trey of the day, before O'Toole scored on consecutive possessions to push the Gator lead back up to nine, 55-46, with 18:20 left in regulation.  However, the tide would quickly turn.  

Aided by a pair of fouls and two three-pointers, DePauw quickly rattled off 10 straight points to take a one-point lead, 56-55, with 16:44 to go.  A layup by the Jordan Rawls temporarily halted the surge and put the Gators back up by one, but the Tigers countered with a 16-2 run over the next four minutes to open up a 72-58 advantage with 12 minutes left to play. Over the decisive five-minute surge, DePauw connected on three three-pointers, while they took advantage of Gator foul trouble to go 4-for-4 from the line.

The DePauw lead eventually stretched to 17, 91-74, with 3:54 left, before the Gators looked to battle back.  Nee and O'Toole each hit a pair of buckets in a 90-second span, before Macomber twice went 2-for-2 from the line, to cut the gap to 93-83 with 2:10 to go.  Macomber scored seven points in the final minute of play, but the Gators would get no closer than the nine-point final margin.

While Allegheny shot a commendable 45 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes, the team cooled down considerably from behind the arc, going just 5-for-14.  Conversely, DePauw shot 62 percent in the second half (18-for-29), including a 7-for-14 mark on three-pointers, while also connecting on 13 of 15 second half free throws.

DePauw's Luke Lattner led all scorers with 36 points, while teammate David Vogel went for 20 points, spurred by six three-pointers.  Jack VandeMerkt led the Tigers with seven rebounds.

The Gators will now face a quick turnaround, as they wrap up their annual two-day swing through the state of Indiana with a Wednesday afternoon date at NCAC foe Wabash beginning at 3 p.m.