SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – Allegheny second-year head coach Jim Driggs may never admit to moral victories, but the Gators tremendous resiliency against a deep Wittenberg team on Saturday was indicative of the team's noticeable growth since weathering a trying first half of the season. With a large and spirited crowd fueling the Tigers attack, the NCAC's league leaders maintained control of first place in the conference with a 79-72 victory at Pam Evans Smith Arena.
Wittenberg, which inched one-step closer to a coveted NCAC regular-season crown, was in front for nearly the entire game, although the Gators made some late noise behind Devone McLeod's career day. The junior guard scored seven consecutive points toward the end of the second half including a three with 1:39 left on the clock to slice the Tigers' seemingly insurmountable lead to 71-70.
Josh McKee, who along with Zach Leahy, finished with 15 points to lead Wittenberg, provided the heroics down the stretch. McKee grabbed an offensive rebound following McLeod's last triple and followed up the crucial carom by knocking down a pair of free throws. Although Allegheny was still within one possession of a tie, Michael Cooper came up with a steal and McKee drained a deep three at the other end to push the lead to 76-70 with 30 seconds to play. Another turnover on their next possession doomed the Gators as Wittenberg sealed the win at the charity stripe.
McLeod scored a game and career-high 25 points on 11-of-19 shooting and sparked big comebacks for Allegheny in both halves.
The Tigers, who led by as many as 15, were in front, 53-43 with 11:19 remaining in the second half when the Gators began to put the squeeze on Wittenberg's control of the tilt. Sophomore Ryan Stanko once again showed his quick-strike capability by scoring five straight points to reduce the deficit to five with 9:37 to go, while back-to-back three's by McLeod and Stanko several minutes later sliced the margin to two (62-60).
Wittenberg was able to stretch the advantage back to six with under three minutes to play, although McLeod canned a shot from beyond the arc to set the stage for an exhilarating last few minutes of regulation.
The Gators coughed up the ball on two of their last three possessions, but the team had just 13 turnovers all game. Stanko added 13 points to the Blue and Gold's totals while rookie David DiBernadi also finished in double figures after scoring 11.
The biggest discrepancy in Saturday's game was on the glass, where Allegheny was out-rebounded, 40-19. The Tigers boasted 14 offensive rebounds and posted a 15-4 advantage on second-chance points. Wittenberg's command of the boards off set a fabulous shooting performance by the Gators, who shot 54.4% from the field, including 17-of-29 (58.6%) in the second half.
Wittenberg opened the battle by scoring its first 18 points on six three-point field goals. The Tigers finished the game 11-of-24 from deep, but used that keen shooting to build a double-digit lead halfway through the opening frame. Wittenberg led 31-16 with 5:59 left in the first half, but two three's by DiBernardi and jumpers by Gabe Seidman and Bobby Theiss ignited a 14-3 run over the next four minutes. Ultimately, the Gators trailed by nine at the break, but they outscored the Tigers, 40-38, in the second half.