CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. – Allegheny men's basketball played its second overtime game in less than 16 hours, although the Gators were unable to replicate the heroics that resulted in the program's first-ever win at DePauw. In what turned out to be the ultimate war of attrition, Wabash out-lasted Allegheny, 95-87, in a three-overtime battle at Chadwick Court.
Saturday's North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) tilt featured 11 ties and 13 lead changes, but the Little Giants' Andy Walsh scored five straight points midway through the third bonus period to give Wabash a stranglehold in the exhausting league affair. Junior Bobby Theiss, who scored a career-high 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting, had a chance to pull Allegheny within two with 32 seconds left, but he missed the ensuing free throw following his last basket. Wabash converted from the foul line at the other end, while a missed jumper by Josh Valentic led to a quick lay-up by Daniel Purvlicis that stretched the advantage to 93-87 with nine seconds left in the frame. Wabash added a pair of free throws just before the final buzzer to account for the eight-point margin.
Senior guard Devone McLeod, who recently became the 25th player in Allegheny history to surpass 1,000 career points, was absolutely sensational. McLeod paced all scorers with a career-high 34 points, while tying the program record with a 7-of-9 performance from three-point range. Scoring 13 of the team's 19 points during overtime, McLeod's offensive effort marked the highest point total for an Allegheny player since Matt Magnuson scored 35 in a home victory against Kenyon on Jan. 10, 2004.
Unfortunately, McLeod's blistering display from deep was unable to off-set an absolutely dominating advantage by Wabash on the boards. The Little Giants out-rebounded Allegheny, 59-37, including a 19-6 differential on the offensive glass that resulted in 19 second-chance points.
A three by Valentic with 1:23 left in regulation moved Allegheny in front, 74-70, but Walsh answered with a three while a free throw by Ross Sponsler extended the game despite the Gators having several chances to end the battle.
Trailing 80-78 with 35 seconds left in the first overtime, McLeod drilled a jumper on the Blue and Gold's final possession of the period to send the game to a second overtime as Sponsler's contested jumper at the buzzer missed.
McLeod scored Allegheny's first five points in the final five minutes, but Walsh, who finished with 19 points, came up big in the clutch once again that triggered a decisive 10-2 run to end the game.
In addition to its sizable rebounding advantage, the Little Giants capitalized at the charity stripe, where they finished 22-of-32.
Allegheny sank 14-of-32 from beyond the arc, but outside of McLeod, the rest of the lineup was unable to get on track. Ryan Stanko, who led all scorers with nine points on 4-of-6 shooting in the first half, closed with 14 points, but finished just 1-of-7 from deep. Valentic also endured his toughest shooting performance of the campaign, converting 2-of-9 from the field for six points. Clark Tritto also enjoyed a hot start with eight points in the first nine minutes, but scored just three points the rest of the way. As usual, Tritto stuffed the stat sheet by adding three assists, three blocks, three steals, and a team-high eight rebounds.