PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- The Allegheny College men's basketball team pushed the top team in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) to the brink on Saturday afternoon in a hard-fought 68-63 loss at Chatham University.

The upset-minded Gators (6-11, 4-8 PAC) threatened to hand Chatham (15-3, 12-1 PAC) just its second conference loss and nearly snapped its PAC-leading win streak, which was extended to seven in a row with a late comeback.

Trailing 38-30 early in the second half, Allegheny pieced together its best run of the contest to jump ahead for the first time since midway through the first. The Gator defense did its part by forcing turnovers on consecutive possessions due to shot clock violations. On the other end of the floor, Isaiah Portis (Medina, Ohio/Norwayne) and Ryan Lang (Sarver, Pa./Knoch) scored seven straight points to trim the deficit to one point. Following a pair of Chatham free throws, a James Sitter (Erie, Pa./Fairview) 3-pointer tied the game at 40-all, and Lang buried another trey less than a minute later to make it a 45-40 Allegheny advantage.

Chatham cut the lead down to a single point on four different occasions before clawing its way back on top. But with the score tied at 57-57 with seven-and-a-half minutes to play, the Gators used a 5-1 run over the next three minutes to regain the lead at 63-58. With under two minutes to go, Simon Boyer connected on both free throws to knot the score at 63-63. It was part of a 10-0 run to conclude the second half, but the Gators had one shot to force overtime. 

Blaine Gartley missed the second half of his one-and-one, giving the Gators the ball back down by three, 66-63, with 17 seconds left. Without a timeout, Lang, who grabbed the clutch rebound, advanced the ball across the timeline. He dished it to Luke Barker (New Castle, Pa./Struthers (Ohio)) on a pick and pop at the top of the arc, but the potential game-tying 3-pointer was off the mark.

Inside the Box Score

• The Gators shot 51.1% (23-of-45) from the field and 36.4% (8-of-22) from 3-point range.
• Chatham was only 35.6% overall (21-of-59) but near perfect from the foul line at 85.0% (17-of-20).
• The Cougars had seven steals on 17 Allegheny turnovers, resulting in 21 points off turnovers.
• Lang and Barker led all scorers with 22 and 21 points, respectively.
• Barker also handed out five of Allegheny's nine assists.
• Portis grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with seven points.
• Sitter added eight points, two steals, one rebound, and one assist.
• Boyer, who became Chatham's all-time leading scorer on Saturday, paced the Cougars with 20 points.

News and Notes

• Allegheny's 51.1 field-goal percentage was its second-best of the 2024-25 season, trailing only its mark of 56.6% against Washington and Jefferson College on January 4.
• Barker continued his climb up the all-time scoring leaderboard and now ranks ninth with 1,286 career points.
• Barker has surpassed the 20-point mark in three consecutive games and five of his last six contests.
• Lang tied his previous single-game season-high with 22 points and is approaching the exclusive 1,000-point club with 956 career points.
• Portis grabbed double-digit rebounds for the fourth time this season.

Up Next
On Wednesday, January 29, the Gators will travel to Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, for a PAC matchup against Geneva College at 7:30 p.m.