MEADVILLE, Pa. -- Trailing by three with 3.7 seconds remaining, Brian Roberts, Jr. (Copley, Ohio/Copley) made the front end of two free throws and intentionally missed the second into the arms of a waiting teammate, but a final shot was blocked as No. 6 Wittenberg turned away Allegheny by a 77-75 score at Mullen Arena on Saturday, Feb. 1.

With the loss, the Gators drop to 11-8 overall and 5-7 in North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) play after nearly missing out on their second win over a ranked opponent this week. Wittenberg improves to 18-1 overall and 11-1 in league games.

Allegheny was within two possessions for most of the second half, but the Tigers opened up a 73-63 lead with 4:02 remaining in the game. Over the next three-plus minutes, however, the Gators embarked on an 11-0 run to take a 74-73 lead with 51.9 seconds to play. Jordan Rawls (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) started the run with a cutting layup off a pass from Keeno Holmes (Pittsburgh, Pa./Lincoln Park), which was followed by a bucket by Roberts, Jr. and a layup by Jordan Greynolds (Barberton, Ohio/Barberton), 73-69. A defensive stop got the Gators the ball back once again and Nijon Kirkman (Cleveland, Ohio/John Hay) buried a triple, assisted by Holmes, to get the home squad within one at 73-72. Kirkman then recorded a block on the defensive end and Rawls corralled the rebound before eventually Roberts, Jr. made a layup to put the Blue & Gold on top at 74-73.

Wittenberg scored after a full timeout was called by Allegheny, and eventually worked the lead back out to three, 77-74, on a pair of free throws with under 15 seconds to play. Roberts, Jr. was fouled to take away the chance at a three-pointer, but successfully executed the make-and-miss strategy as the ball caromed into the arms of Brendon Urso (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel), who saw his shot turned away and the Tigers come up with the rebound as time expired.

Roberts, Jr. led all players with a season-high 23 points. He connected on 6-of-11 from the field, including 4-of-5 from three-point range and his lone miss in eight attempts at the free throw line was intentional. In 14 games, the sophomore is shooting 93.6 percent (44-of-47) at the charity stripe and is one game away from qualifying for a top-five ranking in all of NCAA Division III in the category. Greynolds reached 20 points for the second-straight game, following up 24 points in Wednesday's win at No. 17 Wooster with 22 against Wittenberg. In addition to making 10-of-14 shooting, he added eight rebounds. 

Rawls recorded his ninth double-double this season, and 24th of his career, by posting 12 points and 10 rebounds. Kirkman joined the senior with 12 points, plus six rebounds, five blocks and four assists.

Allegheny will travel to Indiana for a pair of NCAC games next weekend, beginning with a 6 p.m. tip-off at Wabash on Friday, Feb. 7, before a 2 p.m. matinee at DePauw on Saturday, Feb. 8.