MEADVILLE, Pa. - The Gators were unable to hold onto a halftime lead over defending Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference champ Penn State-Behrend, as the visiting Lions used a strong second half to pull away for a 63-51 victory.
After entering the intermission ahead 30-26, Allegheny (3-3) was held to just eight field goals over the second half,as the Lions (3-0) used a long 14-0 run to pull away for their fifth straight win over the Gators.
Evan Zabriski led the Gators with 15 points, highlighted by a perfect 6-for-6 showing from the foul line, and was joined in double figures by fellow forward
Brandon Smith, who scored 11. A third member of the Gator frontcourt,
Chris Milon, put together a strong all-around game, leading Allegheny with 11 rebounds, five assists, and three blocks, while chipping in six points.
The Gators jumped out to an early 7-4 lead to open play, capped off with a long
Josh Valentic three-pointer at the 16:42 mark, before the Lions countered with a 10-0 run over the next five minutes to go in front 14-7.
Allegheny chipped away at the deficit, answering with a lengthy run of its own. A
Gabe Seidman lay up, followed by four free throws from Zabriski, cut the deficit to one, 17-16, with 8:23 left, and two minutes later, Valentic's second trey of the half gave Allegheny back the lead at 20-19. Behrend came back to tie it twice over the next 90 seconds, before Milon scored five points in 55 seconds, topped off with a traditional three-point play with 2:30 left that capped off a 21-9 run and gave the Gators their largest lead of the night at 30-23. A three by the Lions' Malquan Pullium with 50 seconds left would close out the half's scoring, giving the Gators a 30-26 lead at the intermission.
Over the opening 20 minutes of play, Allegheny limited the Lions to just a 32 percent mark from the floor (11-for-34), while the Gators held a 21-17 edge in rebounds.
Zabriski started the second half with a bang for the Gators, as he picked up a steal near mid court on the Lions' first possession and took it all the way with a monster slam to make the score 32-26. The Lions answered right back, going on an 11-2 run in just two minutes, ending with a Nick DeLisio three-pointer, to regain a 37-34 lead with 17:30 remaining.
Zabriski then scored five straight points for Allegheny, with a three-pointer followed by a pair of foul shots, to give the Gators a 41-39 advantage with 14 minutes left. However, the fortunes quickly turned, as the Gators were held without a basket for the next nine minutes of play. Over that span, the Lions rattled off 14 consecutive points, turning the two-point deficit into a 53-41 lead with five minutes to go. A lay up by Smith, followed by a three from the left wing by
Brian Holland, would temporarily halt the Gator skid and cut the Lion lead into single digits with just over three minutes left, but the visitors would score on three straight possessions to open up a 15-point lead and effectively put the game away.
In the second half, the Gators were held to just an 8-for-21 mark from the floor, including a 2-for-10 showing from behind the arc, while going just 3-for-7 from the foul line. Conversely, the Lions went 13-for-32 from the field and 8-for-8 from the charity stripe, and owned an 18-14 margin on the glass. Of their 18 rebounds, eight were on the offensive end, and led to nine second-chance points.
Behrend was led on the scoresheet by DeLisio, who bucketed a game-high 20 points, to go with a team-best six assists. Wes Davic turned in a 17-point, 12-rebound double-double for the victors, while Pullium was a third Lion in double figures, as he scored 10 points and grabbed eight boards.
The Gators will now look to snap their two-game losing skid on Wed. Dec. 3, when they open up North Coast Athletic Conference action with an 8 p.m. tilt at Hiram College. It kicks off a span in which Allegheny will play three conference foes in a six-day span, as the Gators will wrap up the first semester schedule with home dates against Wittenberg (Sat. Dec. 6) and Kenyon (Tue. Dec. 9).
