MEADVILLE, Pa. – Trailing by five points with 12 minutes left in regulation, the Gators used a lengthy run to pull away from the Tigers of DePauw for a 73-59 win in North Coast Athletic Conference action at the David V. Wise Center.
Senior
Evan Zabriski scored 19 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, while freshmen Brandon O'Toole (13) and
Jordan Rawls (12) each reached double figures in rebounds, as the Gators owned a 45-29 edge on the glass and outscored DePauw 38-10 in the paint.
Trailing 33-30 at the half and 44-39 with 12 minutes left in regulation, the Gators rattled off an 18-5 run to take a double-digit lead with 5:03 remaining and cruised down the stretch.
In addition to Zabriski's game-high 23, sophomore
Billy Urso scored 14 points, while Rawls tallied his third double-double of the season with 12 points to go with his dozen rebounds.
The win moves the Gators to 7-13 overall and 4-9 in the NCAC, while DePauw falls to 9-11 overall and 5-8 in conference play.
The Gators controlled play for the opening stages of a defensively-themed first half, as Urso scored five points in the first four minutes to push the Gators out to a 10-6 lead.
DePauw countered with a 9-2 run over a four-minute span to take its first lead, 15-12, with 10:00 left in the opening stanza, before a pair of buckets from Zabriski and a layup by O'Toole tied the game at 18-all with just inside eight minutes left.
The Tigers threatened to pull away, scoring on three straight possessions, capped off by a trey from Cris Burrough with 5:17 left to go in front 26-20. A three-pointer from Urso stemmed the momentum, before Rawls and O'Toole each scored buckets in the paint to put the Gators back on top 27-26 at the 3-minute mark. The squads would trade buckets over the closing minutes of the half, before a jumper from the foul line by DePauw's Luke Lattner at the buzzer sent his squad into the locker room with a 33-30 lead.
Both teams connected on 13 field goals in the opening 20 minutes, but the Tigers made six three-pointers to the Gators' three, all by Urso, who went a perfect 4-for-4 from the field overall.
Urso's fourth trey of the night, with 16:51 left in regulation, brought the Gators even with the Tigers at 35-35, but the Tigers again answered with a 7-2 run to take a 42-37 lead with 13:19 left.
Still trailing by five with 11:30 left, the Gators'
Zack Pateras connected on a trey from the right wing, igniting the game-deciding run.
Jamison Nee and Rawls followed with baskets in a 30-second span to tie the game at 46, before Zabriski scored on back-to-back possessions to give the Gators a 50-46 lead at the 8-minute mark.
Zach Shedd and Rawls each connected on layups 50 seconds apart to push the Gator lead to 54-46 with 6:30 left, before Pateras and Zabriski each drained three-pointers to give Allegheny a 60-49 lead with 5:03 remaining. Over the 16-5 run that spanned five minutes, the Gators held DePauw to just one field goal, while grabbing nine rebounds to the Tigers' three.
The Allegheny lead continued to grow down the stretch, with Zabriski punctuating the win with a pair of breakaway dunks over the final 90 seconds.
In all, the Gators out-scored the Tigers 43-26 in the second half, and 28-13 over the final 10 minutes of play. The Gators shot an even 50 percent (17-for-34) from the field in the second half, while limiting the Tigers to just 29 percent (8-for-27), and 2-for-14 from behind the arc. Allegheny out-rebounded DePauw 24-14 in the second half, and forced 10 Tiger turnovers while committing just six.
Rawls led the Gator defense with three steals on the night, while Nee, who scored eight points, dished out a team-leading three assists.
Burroughs led three DePauw players in double figures with 14 points, and was joined by Lattner (11) and David Vogel (10). John Starkey paced the visitors with six rebounds.
The Gators now have a quick turnaround, as they face Wabash in a 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon matinee in the Wise Center.
