Gators at Wittenberg in NCAC Tournament

Feb 25, 2008

NCAC Tournament Bracket (.pdf)

MEADVILLE, Pa. – After a regular season filled with ups and downs, the Allegheny men’s basketball team (11-14, 6-10 NCAC) travels to Wittenberg (16-9, 12-4 NCAC) in the quarterfinal round of the North Coast Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament on Tuesday.

After a fast 6-2 start to the regular season, the Gators were stricken by the “injury-bug” and played most of their remaining games without their full rotation of players. Despite their misfortunes, the team was able to battle through adversity to earn the #6 seed in the conference tournament.

“This season has been like two separate years for us,” said Gator head coach Rob Clune. “We haven’t had our full rotation since early December and it has been difficult to deal with all of the injuries and illnesses we have encountered.”

Over, the past three weeks, the Gators hung tough during games against the NCAC’s top three teams (Wooster, Ohio Wesleyan, and Wittenberg), having late second half chances to win each of those games.

“Our guys have responded well,” said Clune. “We played tough opponents in tough places over the past 2-3 weeks and put ourselves in position positions to win. We have had guys step up into roles we weren’t expecting them to fill and we have had guys working their way back from injuries.”

The Gators lost 72-55 at home to Wittenberg in mid-January and dropped the second meeting in Springfield, Ohio 78-66 despite leading for most of the contest.

“Hopefully we can take away their top two guys Greg Hill and Kevin Murray and make someone else beat us. We need to limit their offensive touches because those guys really did us in the first two times. Obviously, it’s easier said than done but we have to put them in a spot that is unique to them - then see how it unfolds.”

Allegheny is led by sophomore forward George Raftis (Pittsburgh, Pa./Sewickley Academy), who leads the NCAC in rebounding (8.7 ppg) this year and averages a team-best 12.8 points per game. The Gators will also look to sophomore guards Craig Devinney (Allison Park, Pa./Shaler) and Charlie Jaicks (Gibsonia, Pa./Mars), who average 11.1 and 10.4 points per game, respectively. Senior forward Ben Torsney (Morgantown, W. Va./Morgantown) has also been a consistent contributor with 7.9 ppg and 4.0 rpg while returning All-NCAC guard Bill Babe (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) has averaged 8.0 ppg during an injury-plagued senior season.

“Tournament games are difficult because you have so little time to prepare,” said the head coach. “We have to make sure guys are rested and we can’t look to change very much from the regular season. When playing on the road, you have to make sure to use your timeouts better and keep the home team from pulling away early and getting the crowd involved. We do k now that we don’t have to save anyone for extra rest at this point. We will have everyone available that is in reasonable health.”

Tip-off from Springfield, Ohio is set for 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

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