The Hiram College men’s basketball team fell to Allegheny (Pa.) 76-59 in its NCAC opener on Wednesday evening.
The Terriers suffer their first loss of the season and stand at 5-1 overall and 0-1 in the NCAC. The Gators improve to 4-3, 1-0.
Junior J.J. Woodson (Cleveland/Bedford) led Hiram with 15 points and a career-high eight rebounds.
Sophomore Jeremiah Thomas (Cleveland/John Hay) added 10 points and junior Ray Gaston(Warren/John F. Kennedy) added eight points and two blocks.
Evan Zabriski led four Gators in double figures with a game-high 19 points.
A early steal and dunk by Woodson gave the Terriers an early 10-9 advantage.
A layup from junior Austen Rekolt (Salem/West Branch) capped off a 13-0 Hiram run and allowed them to open up a 28-15 lead with 11:16 left in the first half.
The Gators would chip away at the Hiram lead and cut the deficit to 36-32 at the break.
Allegheny came out of the half strong and used an 13-4 run to jump in front 45-40.
The Terriers came right back with the next five points to knot the score at 45-45 with just under 14 minutes to play.
But the Gators responded with a 13-2 run open up a 58-47 lead with 9:18 to go. Allegheny would use a 8-2 spurt later in the half to open up a 70-54 advantage and put the game out of reach.
Hiram finished the game 22-of-60 (36.7 percent) from the field, while the Gators shot 30-of-56 (53.6 percent).
Allegheny outrebounded the Terriers 46-30 and help a 44-20 advantage in points in the paint.
We can’t afford to shot 7-of-19 from the foul line,” said head coach Chris Kibler. “We missed all six front ends of our one-and-ones. In this league, nobody can leave 18 points out there.”
Hiram will return to action on Saturday, when it hosts Kenyon. The game will be part of a double header with the women’s team and will tip-off at approximately 3 p.m.
