MEADVILLE, Pa. -- Junior
Jordan Rawls matched his career high with 33 points, and the Gators led for 19:42, but Wooster pulled away down the stretch as the Allegheny men's basketball team fell to the No. 16 Fighting Scots, 81-72.
Rawls previously scored 33 points in his second collegiate game during his freshman year when he poured in 33 versus SUNY New Paltz on Nov. 18, 2016 in Allegheny's first game of the Greg Richards '08 Memorial Tournament. Wednesday night marked the third time in his career that the newest 1,000-point scorer in program history reached 30 points. Rawls connected on 11-of-15 shots, including 4-of-5 from three-point range, while also making 7-of-8 from the charity stripe in his seventh straight double-digit performance. In addition to his 33 points, the junior added six rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
Brian Roberts, Jr. was also in double figures for the seventh consecutive game as the rookie had 17 points, plus a team-high seven rebounds and a game-best six assists.
Caden Hinckley added nine points, six boards and two steals before fouling out for the first time.
Lamar Todd was the fourth Gator with at least six rebounds.
Wooster held a slight rebounding edge, 38-34, but 18 of its rebounds were of the offensive variety which led to 23 second-chance points. The Scots also turned Allegheny's 22 turnovers (the most in a game this year) into 24 points. Defensively, the Gators held Wooster to just 20.8 percent (5-of-24) from three-point range and 42.5 percent (31-of-73) from the field, while shooting 53.3 percent (24-of-45) overall themselves.
Allegheny led by four, 41-37, at halftime, thanks to a 58.3 percent (14-of-24) shooting performance in the first half, highlighted by 5-of-7 from three. A 12-2 run after the Gators struck first in the second half gave the visitors a lead it would not relinquish at 49-45 by the 14:39 mark before a layup by Rawls at 13:51 stopped the run.
The Gators are now 7-10 overall and 3-8 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) and will travel to No. 24 Wittenberg at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 26. Wooster improves to 15-3 overall and 10-1 in the NCAC.
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