ERIE, Pa. -- The Allegheny College men's basketball team led by as many as eight points in the second half but was unable to close out Sunday's non-conference matchup and suffered a 66-65 loss at Penn State Behrend.

After the Lions (3-3) evened the score at 31-all with the first bucket of the second half, Preston Turk (New Castle, Pa./Neshannock) and Caden Hinckley (Boise, Idaho/Mt. Lebanon (Pa.)) combined for five consecutive points to regain the lead, which Allegheny (3-4) held onto for the next 11-plus minutes. However, Penn State Behrend used a 12-0 run to turn a six-point deficit into a 59-53 lead with six minutes left in the half.

Despite the change in momentum, the Gators still had an opportunity to come back in the closing seconds.

Austin Ryan converted an and-one to give the host Lions a 66-62 advantage with 35 seconds remaining. Although Allegheny missed its first shot on the next possession, Stefan Mikinkovic coughed up the rebound on the baseline, and Luke Barker (New Castle, Pa./Struthers (Ohio)) buried a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game. With fouls to give, the Gators pressed the inbounds pass and sent the Lions to the line for a one-and-one with just five seconds to go. 

Penn State Behrend's Matt Niland missed his free throw attempt, but the Gators could not race up the floor in time to release a potential game-winning shot.

Inside the Box Score

• Allegheny shot 42.9% (27-of-63) from the floor and only 20.0% (5-of-25) from 3-point distance.
• Penn State Behrend was slightly more efficient, hitting 49.1% (28-of-57) of its shots and 22.7% (5-of-22) from beyond the arc.
• The Gators finished with a plus-seven rebound margin and more than doubled the Lions on the offensive glass with 13 boards.
• The Lions received more points off the bench, 21-to-2.
• Andre Wilder (Beaver Falls, Pa./Lincoln Park) and Hinckley led all scorers with 19 points apiece.
• Both Wilder and Hinckley finished with double-doubles with 12 and 10 rebounds, respectively.
• Barker and Ryan Lang (Sarver, Pa./Knoch) both scored nine points for the Gators.
• Tommy DiRenzo (13) and Milinkovic (12) scored double figures for Penn State Behrend.

News and Notes

• Allegheny suffered its first one-point loss since falling to Thiel College, 80-79, almost exactly one year ago on November 28, 2021.
• Two of AC's four losses this season have been by just one possession.
• The Gators finished with a season-low 10 turnovers on Sunday.
• Allegheny has won the rebounding battle in all seven games so far this season.
• Hinckley recorded his fourth consecutive double-double.
• Wilder produced his third double-double of the year.

Up Next
The Gators resume Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) competition on Wednesday, November 30, when they visit Geneva College for a 7:30 p.m. contest.