BEAVER FALLS, Pa.—The Allegheny College men's basketball team hit a school record 20 three-pointers as they cruised to a 97-52 nonconference win on the road against Geneva College Monday (Nov. 20).
The three-point shooting record broke the previous mark of 16 set on Feb. 19, 2003 against Hiram College.
Billy Urso hit seven of those threes, tied for the second most in a single game. It also marked the highest scoring game for the Gators since they put up 100 against Westminster College on Nov, 20, 2009.
The Gators got off to a fast start as
Lamar Todd hit a three on the opening possession. This led to a pair of threes from
Billy Urso and
Brian Roberts, Jr. shortly after as the Gator lead grew to 9-0. After a couple of Golden Tornado baskets, Urso hit his second three to make it 12-4 just over five minutes into the game. After a
Jordan Rawls free-throw and a Roberts, Jr., lay-up, Urso hit his third three in the opening 10 minutes to make it 18-4.
The Gators continued to roll early on as Rawls created a turnover which translated to a thunderous dunk.
Brendon Urso got in on the three-point shooting before
Billy Urso hit three pointers number four and five to make it 31-12 in the opening half. Leading 31-14,
Jordan Greynolds scored five straight points to make it 36-14.
The offense cooled down, but three-pointers from Todd and Greynolds gave the Gators a 44-25 lead at the half.
Billy Urso led the Gators with 15 points in the opening half, hitting five-of-seven three-pointers. Greynolds had eight while Todd had six. The Gators hit 15-of-33 shots in the half, including 10-of-16 from three.
Roberts, Jr. opened up the second half with a lay-up followed by a three.
Zach Ecker hit a pair of free-throws to push the Gator run to 7-0. After six quick Geneva points, Roberts, Jr. hit his second three of the half to push the advantage back to 23 points, 54-31.
Billy Urso then hit his sixth three of the game. The Golden Tornados answered with a three, but Urso hit yet another three. After a basket, the Golden Tornados called a timeout, trailing 60-36 with 14 minutes to go.
Following the timeout, the teams traded four quick baskets, with
Caden Hinckley scoring both for the Gators. That helped catapult a 14-4 Gator run as they amassed a 75-40 lead. Greynolds hit a pair of threes in that run, with Roberts, Jr. hitting his third of the half.
After the Golden Tornadoes ended the run, Greynolds hit the Gators 17
th three of the game, which established the new school record.
Brendon Urso,
Joe Siegle and
Josh Ratesic hit threes down the stretch as the Gators collected the 45-point win.
In all, four Gators scored in double digits.
Billy Urso led the way with 21 points, all off three-pointers. Roberts, Jr. ended the game with 16 points, hitting four-of-five threes. He also added six rebounds and six assists. Greynolds also ended with 16 points and six rebounds.
Brendon Urso had a pair of threes as he finished with 10 points and three assists. Hinckley had seven points, seven rebounds and three rebounds off the bench.
The Gators shot 49.3% (34-69) from the floor, hitting 20-of-35 three-pointers. They also owned a 42-38 rebounding advantage. Allegheny led the game since they scored the opening basket 21 seconds in. The Gator defense also did a great job in forcing 24 turnovers and holding Geneva to just 32.8% from the floor.
Ethan Moose led Geneva with 11 points and seven rebounds.
The Gators are back at home Saturday (Nov. 24) when they play host to Penn State-Behrend at 4 p.m.
