Ohio Wesleyan 72, Allegheny 62

Feb. 23, 2008

Sophomore post Brent Pleiman (Russia) had a pair of baskets during a 12-3 run that gave Ohio Wesleyan the lead, and junior wing Kyle Holliday (Van Wert) and senior post Dustin Rudegeair (Yellow Springs) combined for all 14 points during a 14-4 run that put the game out of reach as the Bishops defeated Allegheny in North Coast Athletic Conference action on Saturday in Meadville, Pa.

Ohio Wesleyan will host Hiram on Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the NCAC tournament. Ohio Wesleyan tied for second place in the final NCAC standings, and the Bishops received the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament because of their season sweep of Wittenberg. The quarterfinal game against the seventh-seeded Terriers is scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

Allegheny took an early 9-2 lead, with Bill Babe hitting a 3-pointer to open the evening's scoring and George Raftis adding a pair of buckets, and the Gators still led by a 16-10 margin on Babe's lay-in with 12:48 left in the first half.

Holliday hit a 3-pointer to start the Bishop run, junior wing Kyle Miller (Delaware/Hayes) added a lay-in and a free throw, and Pleiman followed with a jumper and a lay-in that gave Ohio Wesleyan a 20-19 lead with 9:17 to play in the period.

The Gators were within 30-28 after Craig Devinney scored with 2:34 to play in the half, but Ohio Wesleyan ended the period with a lay-in by Pleiman and a 3-pointer from senior wing Brian Cafarella (Westerville/North), then opened the second half with 3 straight baskets from Rudegeair to move the lead into double digits.

Holliday's jumper with 12:40 remaining in regulation time gave the Bishops a 49-35 lead, but Allegheny got back into the game by holding Ohio Wesleyan scoreless from the field for more than 4 minutes. Meanwhile, the Gators collected a pair of 3-pointers and a lay-in from Devinney and lay-ins by Raftis and Ben Torsney, and after another Torsney lay-in with 9:20 to play, Allegheny was within 51-49.

Holliday ended the Bishop drought with a lay-in at the 8:24 mark, and followed with a jumper 2 minutes later. After a Devinney jumper for Allegheny, Holliday converted a 3-point play and added a lay-in that gave Ohio Wesleyan a 60-51 lead with 5:07 left in regulation time.

Rudegeair took over from there, hitting a free throw, a jumper and a pair of free throws, the last of which gave the Bishops a 65-53 lead with 3:07 remaining, and Rudegeair would hit 4 more free throws during the final 97 seconds of play as Ohio Wesleyan held off another Gator rally.

Rudegeair led the Bishops with 25 points, going 8-for-11 from the field and 9-for-10 from the line, and grabbed a team-high 6 rebounds. Holliday added 22 points and senior guard Casey Teeters (Westerville/Columbus St. Charles) led the Bishops with 4 assists.

Devinney and Raftus scored 20 points apiece to lead Allegheny, with Raftis snaring a game-high 10 rebounds. Torsney finished with 13 points.

Box Score