PITTSBURGH, Pa.— A run late in the first half fueled a 78-63 win for the Allegheny College men's basketball team at Carnegie Mellon University Wednesday night (Nov. 29).
 
The win for the Gators snaps a seven game losing streak against the Tartans, with their last win coming in 1988.
 
The Tartans opened the game on a 5-0 run but the Gators closed the gap to 8-6 five minutes in.  Of the Gators opening six points, Jamison Nee was responsible for four of them.  Lamar Todd brought the score within one on a free-throw.  Todd then answered a Tartan basket with a good drive and finish to keep the game within one.
 
However, the Carnegie Mellon advantage grew to 16-9 before a Gator run midway through the opening half.  A layup by Antonio Frisina followed up by a traditional three point play by Nijon Kirkman brought the lead down to two.  A three pointer from Zack Pateras answered a Tartan basket to bring the game within one, 18-17, but the Tartans went on a 9-0 run, forcing a timeout from the Gators with just under seven minutes to play in the half.
 
Following the timeout, Pateras hit his second three to cut the lead to seven.  After trading baskets, Billy Urso hit a three to bring the lead to 29-25.  Todd and Kirkman then hit layups on back-to-back possessions to cap off a 12-2 run and tie the game at 29. 
 
Following a Tartans timeout, a second three from Urso gave the Gators their first lead at 34-31.  A third three from Urso increased the lead to 37-33 with just under two minutes to play in the opening half. 
 
In the closing 90 seconds, the Gators lead dwindled down to two points by Todd drained a shot from mid-court at the buzzer to give the Gators a 41-36 lead at the half.
 
Todd led the Gators with 11 points in the opening half while Kirkman and Urso had nine apiece.  The Gator offense excelled in the opening 20 minutes, hitting 16-of-30 (53.3%) shots from the field, including six-of-13 (46.2%) from three.  They also owned a 17-15 advantage on rebounds.
 
The Gator lead grew to eight, 46-38, early in the second half on a three by Nee.  The Tartans responded by going on an 8-2 run, cutting the lead to two, before a fourth three from Urso increased the lead to five with just over 15 minutes to play.   The Gators maintained that lead over the next couple minutes as a basket by Nee gave them a 57-48 lead with 11 minutes to play.  Minutes later, Urso hit his fifth three pointer of the game to extend the Gator advantage to 67-50, their largest lead of the game.
 
In the final five minutes, the Gator lead grew to as much as 20 as they sealed the nonconference win.
 
Urso finished the game with a team-high 18 points, all of which came on threes.  He was six-of-10 from beyond the arc, one short of tying the Allegheny record of seven. Todd and Nee both went 5-of-10 from the floor to finish with 13 and 12 points, respectively, and three assists apiece.  Todd also grabbed eight rebounds.  Kirkman nearly had a double-double as he went for 11 points and nine rebounds.  Jordan Rawls also finished in double digits with 10 points to go with five rebounds.  Zach Shedd had six boards to go with five points while Frisina had three assists.
 
Allegheny finished the game shooting 50.8% (30-of-59) from the field, including 10-of-13 (43.5%) from three.  They also finished ahead of the Tartans on rebounds, 42-33.  Twenty-five of the Gator points came off the bench while 34 points came in the paint. 
 
The Gators are back in action Saturday (Dec. 2) as they open North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) play at Wittenberg University.