PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- The Allegheny College men's basketball team got off to a hot start and finished strong in an 88-68 victory over Carnegie Mellon University in the quarterfinal round of the 2022-23 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Championship tournament on Wednesday night.

With the win, Allegheny (20-9) will now travel to Alfred University to face the Saxons (20-7) in the semifinals on Saturday, March 4. The second-seeded Saxons, who received hosting rights for the ECAC final four at the Terry S. Galanis Family Arena, enter Saturday's matchup following a first-round bye in the seven-team bracket.

The Gators opened Wednesday's bout against the Tartons (15-11) in impressive fashion, as Allegheny scored 22 of the game's first 26 points. The Blue and Gold knocked down six treys for 18 of their first 22 points. Caden Hinckley (Boise, Idaho/Mt. Lebanon (Pa.)) blocked CMU's first shot of the game, and Preston Turk (New Castle, Pa./Neshannock) buried a 3-point field goal 20 seconds after the opening tip. When the dust settled, Allegheny led 22-4 and never trailed against the Tartans after Turk's first field goal.

Carnegie Mellon found itself down by 18 points in the first five-and-a-half minutes, but the Tartans wouldn't go down without a fight. The Tartans cut the deficit to four points, 32-38, with 6:24 remaining in the first half. However, the Gators regained their composure and jumped back ahead by 12, 45-33, at the halftime break.

It was a similar story in the second half. The Tartans came within seven points of the Allegheny lead at 68-61, but the Gators went on a 12-0 run over the next three minutes to put the game out of CMU's reach.

Inside the Box Score

• Allegheny made 48.6% (35-of-72) of its shots, including 50.0% (16-of-32) of its attempts from 3-point range.
• The Gators only had two tries from the free-throw line and made both.
• Carnegie Mellon shot 27-of-66 overall (40.9%) and was a mere 5-of-25 (20.0%) from 3-point range.
• Allegheny held a significant lead in rebounds, 49-to-28.
• Luke Barker (New Castle, Pa./Struthers (Ohio)) netted a game-high 21 points with seven rebounds and four assists.
• Hinckley scored 16 points with team highs in rebounds (18), assists (6), and blocks (3).
• Andre Wilder (Beaver Falls, Pa./Lincoln Park) also had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
• Turk and Ryan Lang (Sarver, Pa./Knoch) added 14 and 12 points, respectively.
• Justin Allen led all Tartans with 20 points and seven rebounds, followed by R.J. Holmes with 17 points.

News and Notes

• Allegheny earned its 20th victory of the season, marking the first season with at least 20 wins since 1997-98 (22-7) and only the second such season in the past 33 years.
• The Gators have won their last four meetings against Carnegie Mellon and are now 43-47 all-time against the Tartans.
• Hinckley, the only Gator on the team the last time Allegheny faced CMU in 2019, has had a double-double in two of his three career matchups against the Tartans.
• Hinckley tied Phil Murphy for 11th all-time in program history with 1,267 career points and Brian Stadnik's 1985-86 campaign for 10th in single-season points with 491.
• Turk (112) and Barker (102) have both surpassed 100 assists this season, making them the first pair of teammates to do so in more than two decades.
• Wilder's double-double was his 10th of the year.

Up Next
Sixth-seeded Allegheny will face No. 2 Alfred in the 2022-23 ECAC Division III Championship semifinals on Saturday, March 4, at 5:30 p.m.