By Adam Cohen, Athletic Communications Assistant

MEADVILLE, Pa. -- Allegheny's men's basketball team defeated Wooster 76-64 in a North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) in front of the largest crowd in Mullen Arena of the 2021-22 season on Tuesday (Feb. 8). With the victory, the Gators improved to 7-11, 5-7 NCAC.

Allegheny started off the game trailing 6-0, before tying Wooster 12-12 as Brian Roberts, Jr. (Copley, Ohio/Copley), Caden Hinckley (Boise, Idaho/Mount Lebanon (Pa.)) and Andre Wilder (Beaver Falls, Pa./Lincoln Park) each contributed four points during the stretch. The Fighting Scots then went on a six-point run before the Gators stormed back with four more points from Roberts, Jr. and Hinckley, to make it a 26-26 contest. 

Overall, Allegheny continued to rally back in the first 20 minutes of play thanks to winning the turnover battle, 8-2. Entering the half, the Gators cut the deficit to 34-32.

The Blue & Gold picked up where they left off in the second half by scoring eight consecutive points. After Wooster made it a 46-43 game, Allegheny's shooters continued their hot stretch and led by as many as 17 in the second half. The Gators separated themselves from the Fighting Scots thanks to 11 of their 16 steals occurring in the last 20 minutes of play.

However, Wooster brought the contest to within six points within less than a minute on the clock. Yet, a Hinckley free throw and Josh Ratesic (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) layup put Allegheny on top 74-65 that sealed the victory. 

Overall, Allegheny shot 14-18 from the line and improved its field goal percentage in the latter half to 53.2 percent en route to a conference win.

Offensively, Roberts, Jr. paced all Gator scorers with 26 points and was backed by Hinckley and Wilder who had 16 and 11 points, respectively. 

Defensively, Hinckley had 11 defensive boards to achieve another double-double against Wooster, and filled up the scorebook by manufacturing five steals with one block.

The triumph marked the first win for the Gators over the Fighting Scots in Meadville since Jan. 15, 1997, snapping a 23-game home drought against the conference foe.

Allegheny remains at home for its next NCAC matchup this Saturday, Feb. 12 at 2 p.m. versus Wittenberg.