MEADVILLE, Pa. -- The Allegheny men's basketball team closed out competition for the 2019 calendar year when it led wire-to-wire in a 95-83 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) win over Ohio Wesleyan at James H. Mullen, Jr. Arena.

The victory snapped a 20-game drought against the Battling Bishops, a 10-year stretch that dated back to Dec. 5, 2009 when the Gators picked up a 79-76 overtime victory in Meadville.

Caden Hinckley (Boise, Idaho/Mount Lebanon (Pa.)) established a new career high for the second time this season by pouring in 30 points before fouling out late in the second half. The sophomore hit on 12-of-21 shots from the floor and matched his career best by knocking down a trio of three-pointers. He rounded out his effort with five rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

Jordan Rawls (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) recorded his 19th career double-double (second straight) by posting 24 points and 14 rebounds. The senior was efficient from the field, making 8-of-10 from the field and 2-for-2 from beyond-the-arc, in addition to converting 6-of-7 free-throw attempts.

Allegheny jumped out to an 8-2 lead early, fueled by four points from Hinckley. The Gators extended the lead to 13-5 five minutes into the game as they responded to a Bishops' three-pointer with a pair of free throws by Jordan Greynolds (Barberton, Ohio/Barberton) and a triple by Brian Roberts, Jr. (Copley, Ohio/Copley). From 13-10, Allegheny enlarged the advantgae with a 9-0 spurt that featured buckets by Brock Brumfield (Medina, Ohio/Buckeye), Nijon Kirkman (Cleveland, Ohio/John Hay), and Hinckley and a triple by Keeno Holmes (Pittsburgh, Pa./Lincoln Park) and made the game 22-10 at 11:04 of the first half.

The Gators eventually took an 11-point lead into halftime, 44-33. OWU cut the margin as close as five points, 44-39 at the 17:57 mark of the second half, but the hosts scored 19 of the next 25 points to open the lead up to 18 and coast to the victory.

In addition to Hinckley and Rawls, Roberts, Jr. and Greynolds reached double figures as well. Roberts, Jr. was in double digits for the third-straight time with 14 points, plus equaling his career high with nine rebounds (previously set Jan. 18, 2019 against OWU). He also added seven assists, the sixth time in his career he had at least seven helpers. Greynolds added 13 points, five boards and five assists (tying his career best).

For the game, which the Blue & Gold led for 38:59 and saw a tied score for 1:01, the Gators shot 49.2 percent (32-of-65) from the floor and 50.0 percent (9-of-18) from three-point range, their best mark from beyond-the-arc in six games. Allegheny also topped 80 percent at the free-throw stripe for the third time this season at 81.5 percent (22-of-27).

The Gators return to the court on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020 when they host Wabash at 2 p.m.