MEADVILLE, Pa. -- The Gators used five players in double figures to deal Carnegie Mellon an 82-78 loss in nonconference action at the David V. Wise Center.
With the win, the Allegheny College men's basketball team is off to its best start since the 2007-08 season by improving to 4-1 with 20 percent of the regular season now complete. In 2007-08, the Gators opened up 4-0. CMU, a member of the University Athletic Association, drops to 1-5 this year.
Allegheny faced its largest deficit of the game when it trailed by four, 15-11, after a triple by the Tartans at the 13:16-mark of the first half. The Gators used an 8-0 run to grab the lead back when
Billy Urso knocked down a three-pointer at 12:57 to cut it to one, and then
Jordan Greynolds scored the next five points by connecting from beyond-the-arc at 11:39 and driving for a layup at 11:11, 19-15. After CMU held a one-point lead, 32-31, with under two minutes to play in the opening half, Greynolds scored five points and
Jordan Rawls added a layup to lead the Gators on a 7-0 run that saw the hosts go ahead by six points with under 30 seconds in the period. A three-pointer by CMU with five ticks remaining sent both teams into halftime with Allegheny leading by a 38-35 margin.
Carnegie Mellon led, 62-61, with 8:54 to play, but a triple by Urso at 7:23 gave Allegheny the lead back at 64-62. CMU tied the game just 14 seconds later, but
Brian Roberts, Jr. gave the Gators the lead for good with a three-point play at the 6:15-mark, 67-64. The visitors got within one point at 4:46, but a Rawls' triple and Roberts, Jr. jumper pushed the lead back out to six with four minutes to play. The Gators lead got as large as seven down the stretch (when Urso made a pair of free throws with 37 seconds to play), before eventually holding on for the 82-78 win when Roberts, Jr. hit a free throw to seal the win with just under two seconds left.
The Gators forced 18 Tartans' turnovers, with Urso's four steals leading all players. Allegheny also assisted on 19-of-31 made buckets as the Gators shot 42.5 percent (31-of-73) from the floor and made eight triples.
Rawls led Allegheny with a season-high 22 points and equaled his season benchmark with a team-leading seven rebounds. Roberts, Jr. added 16 points, four assists and four rebounds, while Greynolds contributed 14 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Caden Hinckley recorded his second double-digit game with 12 points and matched Rawls' output of seven boards. Urso's 11 points (plus four assists and his four steals) rounded out the five Gators in double figures.
Allegheny opens up North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) play on Saturday, Dec. 1 when it travels to Delaware, Ohio for a 3 p.m. match-up against Ohio Wesleyan.
(Click here to watch highlights from Allegheny's 82-78 win over Carnegie Mellon if the above does not work on your device.)
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