CLEVELAND:  After leading the Gators to a pair of tight victories, Allegheny senior Josh Valentic has been named the North Coast Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week.

Valentic averaged 27 points, 2.5 assists, and 2.5 steals, while shooting 57 percent from the field and 53 percent from behind the three-point line.

On Wednesday, Valentic helped the Gators post a 62-56 comeback victory over Oberlin.  Trailing by four with less than four minutes remaining, the senior scored six points in the final 2:30 to fuel Allegheny's 13-3 game-ending run.  For the game, Valentic scored 27 points, including 20 in the second half, while also adding a game-high five steals, as the Gators forced 25 Oberlin turnovers.

Valentic continued his torrid week on Saturday, again scoring 27 points as the Gators edged Denison 68-65.  Twenty of his points came in a first half in which he shot 9-for-11 from the field, including a three-pointer from 30 feet out to beat the halftime buzzer.  Valentic then scored Allegheny's final two points of the game with 1:09 left to seal the team's second consecutive comeback win, as the Gators trailed by three with three minutes left.  He finished the afternoon 11-for-20 from the field, 3-for-6 from long range, and 2-for-2 from the foul line.

On the season, Valentic ranks eighth in the NCAC in scoring, averaging 15.1 points per game, while his 33 three-point field goals are tied with teammate Evan Zabriski for fifth in the conference.  This marks Valentic's second career NCAC Player of the Week honor, as he was previously lauded on Nov. 18 of last season after averaging 20.5 points and 7.0 rebounds to claim MVP honors of the Greg Richards '08 Memorial Tournament.

The Gators (8-7, 5-3 NCAC) will put their two-game winning streak on the line this Wednesday evening, as they host NCAC-leader and 10th-ranked Wooster at 7:30 p.m. in the David V. Wise Center.