MEADVILLE, Pa. -- The Allegheny College men's basketball team was unable to hold onto a two-point halftime lead on Saturday evening and dropped a chippy Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) matchup against Washington and Jefferson College, 109-86.

A back-and-forth first half resulted in a 56-54 lead for the Gators (5-11, 3-8 PAC) at the intermission. James Sitter (Erie, Pa./Fairview) found his stroke from beyond the arc and helped fuel the offense with a spark off the bench. He made all four of his 3-point shots in the opening half, including three in the last four minutes of the period. Sitter tied the game at 46-all, put the Gators ahead 51-48 a few moments later, and added one more before halftime to turn a one-point deficit into a two-point advantage.

In the first half alone, Sitter and Ryan Lang (Sarver, Pa./Knoch) combined for seven 3-point field goals on eight tries. But the well went dry for the Allegheny shooters in the second half, as the team combined for only one trey out of 11 attempts, equaling a mere 9.1 3-point field-goal percentage.

Not only were shots harder to make, but Allegheny committed 17 turnovers in the second half. For the game, the Presidents (3-13, 2-9 PAC) scored 36 points off turnovers, more than double Allegheny's total in that category.

Inside the Box Score

• Allegheny shot 59.5% (22-of-37) in the first half, but that success rate dropped to 40.0% (12-of-30) in the second half.
• The Presidents finished the game with a 55.1 field-goal percentage (43-of-78).
• Turnovers also hurt Allegheny in the second half, as 17 of the team's 25 came in the final 20 minutes.
• Washington and Jefferson recorded 17 steals thanks to a menacing full-court press.
• Lang led all Gators with 21 points and was tied for the team lead with seven rebounds.
• Sitter was a perfect 5-for-5 from 3-point distance and scored 18 points.
• Isaiah Portis (Medina, Ohio/Norwayne) added 15 points, while Luke Barker (New Castle, Pa./Struthers (Ohio)) had 13 points with a team-high seven assists.
• Alex Acosta was nearly unstoppable for W&J, as he paced all players with 34 points, nine rebounds, and three blocks.

News and Notes

• Allegheny shot above 50.0% from the field for the fifth time this season.
• Nine 3-pointers are a single-game season-high for the Gators.
• Lang reached the 20-point plateau for the third time this season.
• Sitter tied a career-high with 18 points while making all five tries from deep.
• Portis recorded a season-high 15 points and has reached double-figures in back-to-back games.

Up Next
Allegheny travels to Bethany, West Virginia, on Wednesday, January 17, for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off against the Bethany College Bison.