Wabash could not overcome a 25-2 scoring run by Allegheny. The Little Giants' 11-point first half lead slipped away in a 75-63 home loss Sunday afternoon.
 
Wabash held 39-28 lead after a basket by Daniel Purvlicis with 3:02 remaining in the first half before Allegheny began its run. The Gators --- who blistered the nets with a 62.5 percent shooting performance (15-of-24) in the second half --- started their run with a tip-in basket by Leslie Jamerson. A jumper and three-point shot by Josh Valentic trimmed the lead to four points before Gary Ulrich tipped in a missed shot just before the final horn sounded to end the first half for a 41-35 halftime lead for the Little Giants.
 
The Little Giants struggled against the full-court press employed by Allegheny to open the second half. Wabash committee five of its 16 turnovers to go with five missed shots in the first five minutes of the final period. The Gators took advantage with an 18-0 run to move in front by 12 points. That lead eventually became as large as 19 before Wabash made a late run to produce the final 12-point edge for the visitors. Allegheny outscored the Little Giants 40-22 in the second half.
 
"We had an 11-point lead with three minutes left in the first half and let them crawl back into the game," Wabash head coach Kyle Brumett said. "It wasn't that they tied the game or took the lead, but we gave them confidence and showed some vulnerability on our part. I just didn't like our mental look. We didn't handle adversity real well. There was some pouting going on. That's not who we want to be, it's not what we want to be about, and it's not what Wabash is about. We need to address that.
 
The Little Giants came into the game with less than 24 hours of rest after battling to an 89-78 double overtime win Saturday against Hiram, while Allegheny entered Sunday's game after an 85-71 loss at DePauw Saturday.
 
"Was it tough today?" Brumett asked. "Of course it was. We played a 50-minute game yesterday. We can come up with a million excuses but there are none. We had opportunities. We should have played better. We should have played tougher. We just didn't today."
 
Purvlicis paced Wabash with a 25-point effort, shooting 8-of-11 from the field and 9-of-13 from the free throw line. Austin Burton and Zack Patton each contributed eight points. Purvlicis also led Wabash with eight rebounds. The Little Giants shot 45.2 percent (19-of-42) from the field for the game, but connected on just 5-of-17 shots in the final period.
 
Valentic scored 20 points for Allegheny (6-6, 3-2 NCAC) as one of four Gators reaching double figures. Chris Milon tallied 16, Evan Zabriski scored 15 points, and Conor MacOmber added 12 points. Allegheny shot 29-of-49 (59.2 percent) for the game.
 
"We really need to improve our perimeter play in general," Brumett said. "Our ball handling, our passing, our aggressiveness, our overall shooting. Dan (Purvlicis) does a lot for us. We became very one dimensional in the first half. Yesterday we didn't really handle the press will. More people are going to do that. It has to be an area where we continue to improve."
 
The Little Giants (7-4, 3-2 NCAC) will get that opportunity Wednesday when they play their final non-conference game of the season at home against the Illinois Institute of Technology. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.