MEADVILLE, Pa. -- Allegheny College men's basketball senior Luke Barker (New Castle, Pa./Struthers (Ohio)) reached a career milestone with his 1,000th career point in Saturday's 84-61 loss to Chatham University in the 2024-25 home opener at the David V. Wise Center.

Barker led all Gators with 22 points while shooting 6-of-10 (60.0%) from the floor and 8-of-9 (88.9%) from the foul line. The fourth-year guard scored 19 points in the second half and nearly sparked an Allegheny (0-4, 0-2 PAC) comeback after early foul trouble limited his effectiveness in the first half.

Trailing 44-28 at halftime, Barker and the Gators slowly began to chip away at Chatham's (4-1, 3-0 PAC) lead. He scored Allegheny's first five points and nine of their first 11 to start the half. At the 11:47 mark, Barker drove into the paint, and after the defense collapsed around him, he fed Tanner Miller (Elkins, W.Va./Elkins) with an outlet pass to the top of the key. From there, Miller sank a 3-pointer, which reduced the deficit back to single digits at 54-46. 

A little over three minutes later, Barker carved through the Chatham defense and finished with his left hand, drawing a foul in the process. His and-one made it a seven-point game at 59-52. 

With momentum on Allegheny's side, the Cougars responded by scoring five unanswered over the next 45 seconds. Chatham pushed its lead back to a comfortable margin while holding the Gators to just three points in a near-five-minute span starting at the 7:25 mark. After the under-eight media timeout, Allegheny went cold and managed to make only one field goal for the remainder of the contest.

Inside the Box Score

• Allegheny shot 39.1% overall (18-of-46) and 33.3% from 3-point range (5-of-15).
• Chatham made slightly over 50% of its 67 field goals, which included 31 3-point attempts.
• The Gators had success from the charity stripe with 20 makes on 24 tries (83.3%).
• The Cougars won the rebounding battle, 39-to-26.
• Barker finished the afternoon with a team-high 22 points in addition to three rebounds and a team-leading three assists.
• James Sitter (Erie, Pa./Fairview) scored 12 points with a team-high three steals and two rebounds.
• Ryan Lang (Sarver, Pa./Knoch) and Jayson Perry (Tampa, Fla./Sickles) added nine and eight points, respectively.
• Isaiah Portis (Medina, Ohio/Norwayne) collected a team-high seven rebounds to go along with two points, two steals, and one block.
• Chatham's Diaun Pinkett led all scorers in the contest with 25 points on 10-of-13 (76.9%) shooting.
• Luca Robinson added 16 points with seven boards for the Cougars.

News and Notes

• Saturday's contest was Allegheny's first on its home court and second PAC game of the season.
• With 22 points, Barker became the 32nd player in program history to join the 1,000-point club.
• In 80 career games, Barker has scored 1,003 points for an average of 12.5 per game.
• Sitter scored in double figures for the third time in four games this season.

Up Next
On Monday, November 25, the Gators are back in action inside the Wise Center as they host Penn State Shenango in a non-conference game at 7:00 p.m.