MEADVILLE, Pa. – The Allegheny men's basketball team fell in its final non-conference game of the season, dropping a 75-63 decision to visiting Grove City in the Wise Center.

Trailing 53-52 with just over eight minutes left in regulation, the Gators (5-7) saw the Wolverines (9-2) erupt for an 18-4 run over the next four minutes to pull away and win their sixth consecutive game.

Jordan Rawls scored 16 points and Lamar Todd 12 for the Gators, but Grove City's defense limited Allegheny shooters to just 36 percent from the field, while the Wolverines finished with a 43-30 advantage in rebounding.

The Wolverines jumped out to an 11-2 lead just four minutes into play, but the Gators quickly narrowed the gap, outscoring the visitors 12-2 over the next five minutes to cut the deficit to 15-14 with just over 11 minutes left in the half.  Nijon Kirkman scored seven points over the span, while Zack Pateras had three, and Sean Dougherty two.

Grove City scored on back-to-back possessions to up its lead to 19-14 with 9:57 to go, but the Gators quickly rallied, as Pateras hit his second trey of the half, before Rawls scored five points in a 55-second span to give the Gators their first lead of the afternoon, 21-20, with 8:50 left.  With 3:30 to go, the Wolverines upped their lead to five, 30-25, but the Gators entered the intermission with momentum, with Rawls cashing in on a three-point play and Zach Shedd bucketing a free throw to cut the Wolverine deficit to 30-29 at halftime.

Over the first half, the Wolverines connected on 14 field goals to the Gators' 10, but Allegheny kept it close by sinking five trey's to Grove City's four.  Allegheny also scored 17 points off of eight Wolverine turnovers.

The game stayed tight in the opening stages of the second half, with the teams trading buckets for most of the first seven minutes. Grove City would eventually take a six-point lead, 46-40, with 13:47 to go, but Allegheny quickly countered to tie the game at 48 just a minute later, as Jamison Nee and Liam Wilby hit three-pointers 20 seconds apart, before Lamar Todd went coast-to-coast with a layup.

On the ensuing possession, Grove City's Matt McGillan cashed in on a conventional three-point play to give his squad a 51-48 lead with 12:24 remaining. The Gators pulled to within 53-52 on a pair of Shedd foul shots, but they would get no closer.  Grove City scored on eight of its next 11 possessions, while limiting the Gators to just one field goal and two free throws, to outscore Allegheny 18-4 in a six-minute span and take a 71-56 lead with 2:40 to go from which the Gators could not recover.

The front court duo of Andrew Beckman and Cory Huff led the way for Grove City, with the former scoring 17 points and pulling down 10 rebounds, and the latter 15 points and nine boards.

For the Gators, Todd tied with Shedd for the team lead with six rebounds, while he led his squad with four assists and two steals.

Allegheny will now have a week-long layoff before returning to action on Saturday, January 6, when they close out its season-long five-game homestand with a 3 p.m. bout against North Coast Athletic Conference foe Denison in the Wise Center.