ALFRED, N.Y. -- Alfred University ended Allegheny College's postseason run with an 88-68 win over the Gators in the 2022-23 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Divison III Men's Basketball Championship semifinals on Saturday night.

The loss signals the conclusion of perhaps the greatest season of Allegheny basketball since the ball dropped on the new millennium. The list of accomplishments for the Gators includes reaching 20 wins, hosting the 2022-23 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Tournament final, and playing postseason basketball beyond a conference tournament for the first time since 1999.

Alfred (21-7), a member of the Empire 8 Conference and the host of the ECAC Championship final four, never trailed on Saturday after Casey Curran hit a 3-pointer inside the opening minute to put the Saxons ahead, 5-2. However, the Gators (20-10) matched the pace of the Saxons for most of the opening half. Down by nine, 18-9, Isaiah Portis (Medina, Ohio/Norwayne) kicked off a 10-1 run that spanned the next four-plus minutes with a 3-pointer. Andre Wilder (Beaver Falls, Pa./Lincoln Park) added an unconventional three-point play, and Holden Phillips (Broadlands, Va./Briar Wood) capped off the mini-rally with a bucket that made it a one-point difference, 20-19.

The Saxons began to pull away late in the first half with several 3-pointers and and-ones of their own. Alfred led 45-34 at the break and kept the margin in double digits for most of the second half.

Inside the Box Score

• Alfred shot above 50.0% in both halves and finished with a 52.2 field-goal percentage (35-of-67).
• Allegheny made 28-of-63 shots for a 44.4 field-goal percentage.
• The Gators won the battle on the boards, 38-to-32, and had a 7-to-4 lead in blocks.
• Ryan Lang (Sarver, Pa./Knoch) led all Gators with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting (72.7%).
• Lang also paced Allegheny with a trio of 3-point makes.
• Wilder added 17 points with five rebounds.
• Caden Hinckley (Boise, Idaho/Mt. Lebanon (Pa.)) logged team highs in rebounds (8) and blocks (4) to go along with eight points.
• Four Saxons reached double figures, led by Brewster Marshall with 25 points.
• Mike Schmidt added 18 points with a game-high 14 assists.

News and Notes

• Allegheny's season ends with a 20-10 overall record, a 12-game improvement in the win column from 2021-22.
• Allegheny reached 20 wins for the first time since winning 22 in 1997-98.
• As a team, the Gators set program records for points (2,495), field goals made (939), 3-pointers (311), rebounds (1,316), and blocks (136) in a season.
• Saturday's game marked the first between Allegheny and Alfred since the 2013-14 season, although the all-time series began in 1921-22.
• Following his final collegiate game as a Gator, Hinckley has amassed 1,275 points, 833 rebounds, 234 assists, 158 blocks, and 114 steals.
• Hinckley, the PAC Defensive Player of the Year, will graduate first all-time in blocks, second in rebounds, and 10th in points.