Allegheny 78, Ohio Wesleyan 75

Feb. 24, 2009

Senior wing Kyle Miller (Delaware/Hayes) hit a 3-pointer and a lay-in as Ohio Wesleyan erased a 4-point deficit during the last minute of regulation, but Allegheny sent the game into overtime and scored the last 3 points of the extra session to escape with a win over Ohio Wesleyan in a North Coast Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday at Branch Rickey Arena.

Allegheny, the tournament's No. 7 seed, advances to face sixth-seeded Wabash, also an upset winner on Tuesday, in a tournament semifinal game at 6 p.m. on Friday in Wooster.

Ohio Wesleyan had taken a 66-61 lead on a pair of free throws by senior wing Kyle Holliday (Van Wert) with 6:03 left in regulation time, but Allegheny countered by scoring the next 9 points. A pair of Charlie Jaicks free throws and a Doug Price lay-in brought the Gators within a point before George Raftis hit a jumper from the lane to give Allegheny a 67-66 lead with 1:55 left. Raftis followed with a lay-in with :59 to go to give the Gators a 69-66 edge, and Jaicks hit the front end of a one-and-one for a 70-66 Allegheny lead with :48 to play.

Miller buried a 3-pointer on Ohio Wesleyan's next possession, ending a 5-minute drought that saw the Bishops miss 4 shots from the field, one more from the line, and commit 4 turnovers, and making it a 70-69 game with :40 remaining.

Price then missed the front end of a one-and-one with :24 to play and Miller cleared the defensive rebound, then drove downcourt and scored with :16 to play to give Ohio Wesleyan a 71-70 lead.

On the Gators' next possession, Jaicks drew a foul on freshman post Pat Pellerite (Olmsted Falls), missed the first free throw, then hit the second to tie the game at 71 with :11 remaining.

The Bishops had a chance to win the game in regulation time, but Miller's 3-point shot with :03 left was off the mark, and the game headed into overtime.

The teams traded points twice, leaving the score tied at 75-75 after a pair of free throws by freshman wing Tim Brady (Dublin/Jerome) with 1:37 left in overtime.

Holliday stole the ball from Raftis on Allegheny's ensuing possession, giving the Bishops a chance to take the lead, but Holliday's drive to the basket didn't fall and Raftis cleared the rebound, then scored on the offensive end to give Allegheny a 77-75 lead with :24 to go.

Holliday drove the left baseline looking for the tying basket, but his jumper from a crowd was off the mark, and again it was Raftis with the rebound with 2.6 seconds to play, with the Bishops fouling Raftis immediately.

Raftis missed the first free throw but hit the second, and a potential game-tying 3-pointer by junior guard Rob Gardiner (Dublin/Coffman) was blocked at the buzzer, sealing the win for Allegheny.

Ohio Wesleyan took an early 6-0 lead as Holliday collected a pair of free throws and a lay-in and Pellerite tipped in a missed shot. The Bishops extended their lead to 17-7 with the help of a 5-0 run that included a Holliday free throw and a pair of Brady lay-ins.

Allegheny closed the gap to 17-13 with 3-pointers from Henry Heeter and Jaicks, but the Bishops countered with lay-ins by Miller and senior wing Mitch Noggle (Dublin/Coffman), and after a Noggle 3-pointer, Ohio Wesleyan had restored its 10-point margin at 24-14 with 8:50 left in the half.

Brady's jumper in the closing seconds of the half gave Ohio Wesleyan a 34-24 lead at the intermission.

The Gators rallied with a pair of 3-pointers from Heeter and another by Craig Devinney, paring the deficit to 40-37 on Price's jumper with 14:30 left in regulation time, and Allegheny was still within 3 points after the teams traded traditional 3-point plays.

Ohio Wesleyan responded with an 11-2 run that included a pair of Noggle 3-pointers, 3 free throws by Miller, and a pair of Brady free throws, giving the Bishops a 54-42 edge with 11:29 to play.

The Bishops still led, 62-52, on Noggle's 3-pointer with 7:27 remaining when Allegheny rallied with 3-pointers by Jaicks and Heeter and a 3-point play from Raftis that brought the visitors within 64-61 and setting up the final 6 minutes of regulation.

Brady led the Bishops with a season-high 19 points. Noggle finished with 17 points, going 6-for-7 from the field, including 5-for-6 from 3-point range. Miller finished with 14 points and 7 rebounds, and Holliday had a team-high 4 assists.

Raftis led Allegheny with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Heeter scored 15 points, all from beyond the arc, and Price finished with 10 points for the Gators.

Box Score