MEADVILLE, Pa. -- The Allegheny College men's basketball team battled for an exciting comeback victory over the visiting Tomcats of Thiel College in a 78-69 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) matchup inside the David V. Wise Center on Wednesday night.

The Tomcats (5-9, 4-6 PAC) led 38-28 at halftime and by as many as 15 points early in the second half. Trailing 46-31, the Gators (6-9, 4-6 PAC) began chipping away at the deficit. Allegheny scored 21 of the following 27 points, including nine unanswered points on 3-pointers from Tanner Miller (Elkins, W.Va./Elkins), Luke Barker (New Castle, Pa./Struthers (Ohio)), and James Sitter (Erie, Pa./Fairview). Sitter's trey at the 9:34 mark tied the score at 52-all, the first tie since the game was even at 3-3 in the first 75 seconds of the contest.

Thiel jumped back out to a 56-52 lead, but Sitter sank another 3-point bucket, and Barker's left-handed finish through the lane gave the Gators their first lead since the game's opening possession. The Tomcats tied the score at 58-all with six-and-a-half minutes remaining, but a well-executed give-and-go between Isaiah Portis (Medina, Ohio/Norwayne) and Sitter provided Portis with an easy lane to the hoop, which gave Allegheny the lead for good.

With 1:23 left on the clock, Ryan Lang (Sarver, Pa./Knoch) found Barker with a great pass underneath the rim, and Barker finished the play off the glass to widen the Allegheny lead to 72-67. On the following Thiel possession, Barker drew a critical foul by Thiel's Khamari Accursio-Harris on an illegal screen. The Gators capitalized on the errant play, as Lang drove through the defense and deposited a layup that extended the advantage to 74-67. Thiel's next drive also ended in a turnover, all but sealing the come-from-behind victory for the Gators.

Inside the Box Score

• After scoring only 28 first-half points, Allegheny shot 59.3% (16-of-27) and outscored the Tomcats 50-31 in the second half.
• Thiel, which shot 50.0% overall (16-of-32) and from 3-point range (5-of-10) in the first half, only converted 36.0% (9-of-25) of its shots in the second half.
• Allegheny recorded 10 steals on 14 Thiel turnovers.
• The Tomcats outrebounded the Gators 36-to-32.
• Both defenses finished with two blocks.
• Four Gators scored double-digit points, led by Barker (22) and Lang (17).
• Portis added 14 points with nine rebounds, four steals, and two assists.
• Sitter had 13 points with five boards, three assists, two steals, and two blocks.
• Jayson Perry (Tampa, Fla./Sickles) poured in nine points, paced Allegheny with five assists, and tied Portis for the team lead in steals (4).
• Gabriel Gonzalez scored a team-high 16 points for Thiel, while Marlon Ellerbee produced a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

News and Notes

• Allegheny has won three of its last four contests and back-to-back home games.
• The Gators and Tomcats split their 2024-25 series, as each team was victorious on its home court.
• Allegheny improved to 5-2 against Thiel since returning to the PAC ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.
• Barker climbed into 14th place all-time in scoring with 1,239 career points, surpassing Evan Zabriski '17 (1,233) and Eugene McIndoe '53 (1,230).
• Portis has earned multiple steals in seven consecutive games.
• Perry's five dimes tied his season and career high.

Up Next
Allegheny is home on Saturday, January 18, when the Gators host Bethany College in a PAC tilt at 3:00 p.m. The game will serve as Allegheny's annual Greg Richards Day contest to celebrate the life of the late Greg Richards '08.