Pictured Above: Left - The Gators play the first official basketball game in school history, facing off against the Meadville Olympian Club on Feb. 28, 1896. Right - In 1995, local Meadville artist Kevin Pipp captured 100 years of Allegheny basketball with a collage of various Gator greats. Listed from left to right along the top row are: Maurice "Rink" Kofford '22, two-year captain and namesake for the team's top academic award; Eugene "Bud" McIndoe '53, the first Gator to score 1,000 career points; Dick Baker '08, captain of Allegheny's first undefeated team; Bob DelGreco '76 cutting down the net after Allegheny's first PAC Championship in 1975; and Terry Gray '87, who holds the record for career games played and captained the 1986-87 team to a school record 24 wins. The three faces in the middle row include: John Reynders '75, former player and Allegheny's all-time winningest coach; Raymond Shafer '38, 1937-38 team captain who would go on to serve as Governor of Pennsylvania; and Samuel Lampe '02, who is often described as "The Father of Allegheny Basketball." James Johnston '60, who holds the school's single-game scoring record with 53 points; Garret Daggett '89, the 1989 NCAC Player of the Year; Norm Sundstrom, coach and Athletic Director credited with building the program into a consistent winner; and William Faloon '41, 1941 team captain are pictured along the bottom.
THE FIRST GAME
The first basketball game pitting Allegheny against a non-college group took place on Feb. 28, 1896. Howard Burge, Allegheny's Physical Director from 1895-98, organized a contest between a group of Allegheny players and a team from Meadville called the Olympian Club. The contest was played at the Taylor Hose Gymnasium, the only suitable facility in Meadville at the time. The game is described in this excerpt from the following morning's Meadville Tribune-Republican: "The Olympian club basket ball team of the Stone Church, measured strength at the Taylor Hose Gymnasium last evening with the Allegheny college team in the presence of a large and enthusiastic audience. Although the Olympian lads struggled manfully to win, they were overmatched by the college boys and the ball nestled snugly in the Olympians basket 19 times during which the Olympians were able to lodge it twice in Allegheny's basket."
58 STRAIGHT
On March 7, 1903, Allegheny dropped a 21-15 decision to Westminster in Montgomery Gym. Following that loss, eight years passed before a visiting team would again beat Allegheny on its home court. The streak included victories over Syracuse, Yale, and Ohio State. After 58 consecutive home wins, Ohio Wesleyan ended Allegheny's streak, 18-16, on March 18, 1911.
A PERFECT SEASON
Arguably the best basketball squad in Allegheny's long history, the 1907-08 team went 12-0 to carve itself a place in the record books as the school's only undefeated team. Captained by Dick Baker, the Gators routinely doubled-up the competition, and topped the 40-point mark six times while holding the opposition below 20 points in all but two games.
JOHNSON SCORES AT WILL
From 1956-60, James Johnson usually led the Gators in scoring. On March 3, 1959, he accomplished a feat that remains a single-game marvel, as he scored 53 points on 17 field goals and 19 free throws, pacing Allegheny to a 109-106 win over Edinboro.
FIVE OVERTIME MARATHON
On February 12, 1983, the Gators faced Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh in what figured to be another battle in the long rivalry between the two squads. The game turned into one of the Gators' most thrilling - and exhausting - ever, as the two squads battled through a then-NCAA record five overtimes before the Tartans eked out an 81-76 win.
DUNKIN' DAGGETT
The late 1980s was one of the most exciting periods in the history of Allegheny basketball. The Gators grabbed at least a share of the NCAC title four consecutive years with a combined conference record of 40-6 while advancing to the NCAA Tournament three straight years. Forward Garret Daggett, known for his thunderous dunks, helped close out the decade in style as he propelled the Gators to a sweep of the regular-season and conference tournament titles while becoming the first player in team history to earn NCAC Player of the Year honors.
ELEVENTH CONFERENCE TITLE
In 1998, Allegheny captured its 11th conference championship after defeating Case Western Reserve, Wittenberg, and Wooster en route to the NCAC tournament title. Led by Mike Houser, Jerry Ambooken, and Ben Shulz, the Gators defeated Baldwin-Wallace, 97-88, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, before falling in a close game on the road at Hope College.
ALLEGHENY CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
| 1970-71 - PAC |
1974-75 - PAC |
| 1978-79 - PAC |
1979-80 - PAC |
| 1980-81 - PAC |
1985-86 - NCAC |
| 1986-87 - NCAC |
1987-88 - NCAC |
| 1988-89 - NCAC |
1992-93 - NCAC |
| 1997-98 - NCAC |
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