Allegheny 59, Ohio Wesleyan 57

Feb. 21, 2009

Senior wing Kyle Holliday (Van Wert) converted a 3-point play to bring Ohio Wesleyan within 58-57, then knocked the ball loose to set up a potential game-winning possession, but Allegheny withstood that threat and a potential game-winning shot at the buzzer to escape with a win over Ohio Wesleyan in the teams' North Coast Athletic Conference regular-season finale on Saturday at Branch Rickey Arena.

The loss drops the Bishops out of a tie for first place in the NCAC, with Wooster winning the conference championship outright. Ohio Wesleyan will be the No. 2 seed in the upcoming NCAC tournament and will host Allegheny a tournament quarterfinal game at 8 p.m. on Tuesday at Branch Rickey Arena.

Allegheny had taken a 58-54 lead on a George Raftis lay-in with :36 to go.

Holliday responded by driving the left baseline for a lay-in, drew a foul and hit the free throw to bring the Bishops within 58-57 with :31 to play.

The Gators got the ball in bounds, but Holliday and freshman post Pat Pellerite (Olmsted Falls) double-teamed Allegheny's Craig Devinney, knocking the ball loose, and the Bishops controlled the ball, then called a timeout with :18 remaining.

On the ensuing possession, junior guard Rob Gardiner (Dublin/Coffman) looked for Holliday, but his pass was picked off by Allegheny's Doug Price, with Holliday fouling Price immediately. With :06 remaining, Price hit the front end of the one-and-one but missed the second, with the rebound going out of bounds to Ohio Wesleyan.

After a timeout at midcourt with :04 left, Gardiner fielded the entry pass and drove the right baseline, then found senior wing Mitch Noggle (Dublin/Coffman) open on the left wing, but Noggle's 3-pointer at the buzzer hit the front of the rim.

The Gators had taken a 16-15 lead on a Charlie Jaicks 3-pointer midway through the first half, but Ohio Wesleyan came back with a 10-2 run that started with a tip-in by freshman wing Tim Brady (Dublin/Jerome) and a lay-in by sophomore post Andrew Martin (New Albany) before consecutive Holliday 3-pointers gave the Bishops a 25-18 advantage with 6:21 to go.

Ohio Wesleyan pushed its lead to 35-25 on another Holliday 3-pointer with :50 left in the half, and the first period ended with the Bishops holding that 10-point margin.

Allegheny wiped out the 10-point deficit in less than 4 minutes, with Devinney scoring twice, Donte Briscoe and Price adding hoops, and Raftis adding a pair of free throws to tie the game at 35-35 with 16:43 left.

Pellerite responded with a pair of free throws and a jumper to give the Bishops a 39-35 lead, and Ohio Wesleyan stretched the margin to 43-37 on Holliday's lay-in with 12:37 remaining.

The Gators came back to tie the game at 48-48 on Price's fast-break lay-in with 4:22 to play.

Holliday answered with another 3-pointer to give the Bishops the lead, and after Price and junior post Brent Pleiman (Russia) traded buckets, Ohio Wesleyan held a 53-50 advantage with 3:06 to play.

Price and Devinney connected on 3-pointers on back-to-back Gator possessions for a 56-53 Allegheny lead with 2:01 to play, and after Gardiner hit the second of 2 free throws with 1:04 left, Raftis scored from inside for Allegheny's 58-54 lead with :36 remaining.

Holliday led the Bishops with 24 points and 8 rebounds. Pellerite finished with 12 points and 6 rebounds, and Gardiner had a team-high 3 assists.

Raftis led Allegheny with 16 points, Devinney scored 14 points and Price finished with 12 points for the Gators.

Box Score