Kyle Aiton may have lost his starting duties, but never lost his confidence or shooting touch. The sophomore guard scored 20 second-half points Tuesday night in a first-round North Coast Athletic Conference playoff game against Allegheny to help deliver Wabash's first post-season victory in four years, 69-60.

"Nothing was different in the second half," Aiton said. "I played the same way I did in the first half. Coach (Brumett) and my teammates trusted me to hit the shots and I kind of found my groove. From there, I had a ton of confidence and kept playing with it."

Aiton scored 23 points total on 6-of-13 shooting and a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line. He also connected on all four of his second-half three point attempts. Aiton still played 29 minutes despite coming off the bench. Aiton moved to a reserve role after suffering an injury in the last meeting between the Little Giants and Allegheny in early February.

"I can see how defenders are playing ball screens," Aiton said. "I usually watch Austin Burton when he comes off screens to see how the defense plays him because usually it will do the same thing to me. Once I get in the game, I get a feel for how the defense is playing the picks – it's something I'm still continuing to work on."

Aiton shared ball-handling duties most of the evening with point guard Houston Hodges, and the duo combined to hand out nine assists versus just three turnovers.

"To get 26 points out of those two guys and nine assists, they basically have their hands in all of our offense," Coach Kyle Brumett said. "Kyle (Aiton) really played well and hopefully he'll carry it into the weekend."

The Gators threw the proverbial kitchen sink at the Little Giant offense – man-to-man, zone, half-court traps, and full-court presses were all on display. Wabash only committed three second-half turnovers against the complicated defense.

"In the last 10 games or so, Kyle's assist-turnover ratio has been a problem, but he did a great job with it tonight," Brumett said. "They tried to pressure us more, but Kyle and Houston were outstanding."

Although Aiton shouldered much of the scoring, he forced a key steal late. The Gators had the ball down 64-60 with 45 seconds remaining when Aiton shot the lane on a careless backward pass. He took the ball the length of the court for a layup to put Wabash up six and effectively seal the game.

While Aiton made the big buckets, double-double machine Daniel Purvlicis scored 11 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for a depleted Little Giant roster. Illnesses hampered four players, or caused them to miss the game altogether. Things turned from bad to worse when starting wingman Kasey Oetting left with an injury in the second half.

"It is what it is – there's nothing you can do about it," Brumett said. "For the couple of guys that couldn't go, if they could have they would have.

"We did have guys play in expanded roles today," Brumett continued. "Zack Patton does so much for us that a lot of people don't realize. Whenever he comes into the game, he guards the other team's best perimeter player. Zack and Kasey allow us to be really big outside. Allegheny has two big guards, so it was really tough when Kasey went down."

Wingman Evan Zabriski led the Gators with 20 points and 10 rebounds while guard Josh Valentic scored 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting.

The Little Giants worked out to an early 22-14 lead before an 8-0 run by Allegheny tied the game. Wabash responded with an 11-3 run, ignited by a corner three from Hodges, that gave the home team a 33-25 halftime advantage.

The visitors again tied the game at 41-41 with 12:43 remaining before Aiton responded with a three. The Gators kept chomping at the bit as Wabash never built more than a five-point lead until Aiton's late layup.

The Little Giants closed the game on a 6-0 run. The nine-point spread was the largest Wabash lead of the game.

Wabash finished strong at the free throw line, making six of their last eight attempts and shot 14-of-19 for the game. Purvlicis connected on three of his four attempts.

Marcus Kammrath added 13 points and six boards, while Oetting scored 10 and Burton totaled nine points and four rebounds. The Little Giants had 39 rebounds on the evening compared to Allegheny's 26.

"These guys really deserve this," Brumett said. "I told them that I would've been really disappointed for them if we didn't play really hard. We're not going to play this game and let someone play harder than us."

Wabash, the third seed in the NCAC tournament, will play second-seeded The College of Wooster 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Ohio Wesleyan campus in Delaware, Ohio. The Scots defeated Denison 106-68 Tuesday evening.

Tickets for Friday's semifinal game are $7 for adults, $5 for children, students without an NCAC institution ID, or individuals with an NCAC guest pass. Students from NCAC institutions with an ID are admitted free of charge. Branch Rickey Arena, the site of Friday's semifinals, will be cleared between games one and two (DePauw vs. Ohio Wesleyan). Fans will need to purchase a seperate ticket to attend game two.