Wabash held an early lead in Saturday's North Coast Athletic Conference basketball game at Allegheny but struggled from three-point range in a 76-70 road loss to the Gators.
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The Little Giants (6-5, 2-2 NCAC) generated 15 points off 15 Allegheny (8-3, 2-2 NCAC) turnovers but could not overcome a 13-percent shooting effort from three-point range. The Little Giants connected on just 3-of-23 attempts from long range, including a 2-of-12 result in the second half.
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Connor Rotterman provided the early lead for the Little Giants with a driving layup in the second minute of the contest. The host Gators answered with a basket from Jordan Rawls and a free throw by Caden Hinckley ahead of a layup by
Jack Davidson for a 4-3 Wabash lead. Allegheny responded with nine consecutive points to move in front 12-4.
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Wabash drew as close as two points at 18-16 with nine minutes remaining in the first half with a basket and free throw by
Kellen Schreiber. The Gators expanded their lead back to double digits at 31-21 with four minutes left in the period and eventually moved in front by 13 points before back-to-back baskets by
Alex Eberhard made the score 40-31 at the break.
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Harrison Hallstrom scored a pair of baskets in the first minute of the second half for a 40-35 deficit for the Little Giants. Hallstrom finished with a game-high 23 points to give him 997 points for his career. He also led Wabash with eight rebounds. Allegheny regained a double-digit lead that Wabash once again cut to five points with 13:09 left to play.
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The host Gators rallied again on offense to push the lead to 15 points with a 14-4 scoring run to move in front 63-50 with 7:48 remaining in the game. Wabash eventually trailed by 16 points at 66-50 with 6:30 left to play before mounting one final push. Davidson drilled a three-point basket to start a 15-6 scoring for the Little Giants to bring Wabash to within six points at 71-65 with 2:05 left to play. Rawls pushed the advantage to eight points with a pair of free throws. Wabash got a free throw from Davidson and a basket by Hallstrom to make the score 73-68 in the final 13 seconds of the game. Free throws from Allegheny's Brian Roberts, Jr. iced the game for Allegheny.
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Wabash shot 24-of-62 overall in the game (38.7 percent). Allegheny finished 27-of-66 for 40.9 percent including 12-of-33 from three-point range (36.4 percent). The Gators won the rebounding battle versus Wabash 49-35 including a 15-8 edge on the offensive glass.
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Davidson and
Tyler Watson joined Hallstrom as double-digit scorers for Wabash. Davidson scored 16 points and Watson finished with 13 points.
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Jordan Greynolds led Allegheny with 21 points. Hinckley added 19 points. Roberts finished with 13 points and Rawls scored 11 for the Gators.
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Wabash completes its weekend road doubleheader on Sunday with a 2 p.m. conference contest at Hiram College. The Terriers (4-7, 1-3 NCAC) lost to DePauw 75-69 Saturday afternoon.
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