MEADVILLE, Pa.— The Allegheny College men's basketball team had five Gators finish in double digits as they opened the season with a 92-80 win at home against Pitt-Greensburg at the Greg Richards '08 Memorial Classic.
The Bobcats scored the first basket of the game, but
Brian Roberts, Jr. answered with a three on his first collegiate shot. After a Pitt-Greensburg basket,
Billy Urso gave the Gators a 6-3 lead with a three. The Bobcats scored the following six points, but a traditional three-point play by Roberts tied the game at 11. The teams continued to exchange baskets until the Gators went on an 11-1 run with threes from Urso,
Jordan Greynolds and
Lamar Todd.
Following a Bobcat timeout,
Jordan Rawls hit a three to make it 27-15. The Gators held to their advantage, and grew the lead to 40-21 following back-to-back threes from Roberts in a 23 seconds span. The Bobcats tried to stifle the Gator momentum with a timeout, but Greynolds three gave Allegheny their biggest lead of the half at 43-21. The lead dipped to 45-30 but Roberts hit a pair of free-throws late to give the Gators a 47-30 halftime lead.
Roberts went off in the first half for 16 points and three assists. Greynolds had eight while Rawls had seven. The Gators shot 47.1% from the field in the opening half, and 47.4% from three-point territory.
The teams went back-and-forth to open the second half, as a pair of
Zach Eckert free-throws gave the Gators a 58-38 lead. After a Bobcat basket, the Gators rattled off a 7-0 run behind a Todd three and four Eckert points to lead by 23 once more. Midway through the half, an Urso jumper gave Allegheny a 71-47 lead.
The Gator offense continued to roll as
Nijon Kirkman tipped a missed shot in to give the Gators their largest lead of the game, 77-51. The Bobcats steadily chipped away at the Gator lead in the final eight minutes of the game, but were never able to pull within more than 12 points as the Gators opened their season with a 92-80 win.
Greynolds led the way for Allegheny as he finished with a double-double in his first collegiate game. He went 8-of-12 from the floor to tally 20 points to go alongside 10 rebounds. He also had a pair of steals. In all, five Gators finished in double figures. Roberts finished the game with 16 points to go with a team-high seven assists. Rawls finished with 11 points and seven rebounds while Eckert had 11 points and five rebounds. O'Toole also finished in double figures with 10 points and four rebounds. Todd was just shy of double-digits with nine points and five rebounds, while Urso had eight points and five assists. Kirkman had six points and five rebounds.
For the game, the Gators shot 46.7% from the floor, and 35.5% from three. They owned a slight edge in rebounds 46-44. The Gator defense held the Bobcats to just 5-of-23 from three. Both teams did a good job protecting the ball as each had 10 turnovers, though the Gators had seven steals.
Kyle Bondi led the Bobcats with 17 points while Cam Seigfreid had 10 rebounds.
The Gators are back in action Saturday (Nov. 17) as they conclude the Greg Richards '08 Memorial Classic against Chatham University.
