WOOSTER, Ohio -- Making its first North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Men's Basketball Tournament appearance in four years, Allegheny took top-seeded and 12th ranked Wooster to the brink of elimination, but a layup with 3.6 seconds left allowed the Fighting Scots to escape with a 91-89 quarterfinal victory.
Reece Dupler made the eventual game winner following a miss by
Brian Roberts, Jr. at the other end immediately before that. The Scots had tied the game at 89-89 just 32 seconds earlier after
Caden Hinckley had given Allegheny the lead back, 89-87, with under one minute left.
A 10-0 run to close the first half gave the Gators an eight-point lead, 48-40, at intermission. Allegheny led for 30:16 of the game and by as many as 13 in the second half, 66-53, on a Roberts, Jr. layup at 13:12.
Rawls led all players, and was one of four in the game with 20-plus points, as he put up 28 against Wooster on 10-of-18 shooting and 3-of-5 from three-point range, while adding seven rebounds and four assists. Roberts, Jr. added 25 points in the game, including 5-of-6 from three-point range, plus eight assists (one off his season high) and four steals. Hinckley pitched in 14 points and five boards, while
Billy Urso scored nine points in the final game of his career.
Jordan Greynolds scored seven points and
Lamar Todd led all players with nine rebounds.
For the game, Allegheny had its best shooting game of the season, making a blistering 61.0 percent (36-of-59) from the floor and 58.8 percent (10-of-17) from beyond-the-arc. The Gators also held an advantage on the glass as 34-21, and turned 13 offensive rebounds into 16 second-chance points.
The Gators close out the season with a 10-15 overall record, marking the first time the team reached double figures in four years.
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