MEADVILLE, Pa. – Chatham Men's Basketball (14-6, 9-3 PAC) was defeated on Saturday afternoon at Allegheny (9-12, 7-5) after a 17-1 second-half run led a 69-66 Gator victory.
 
Ryan Lang netted a game-high 19 points with 9 boards and a game-high 6 assists for Allegheny. Pijus Latauskus contributed 13 points on 5-6 from the field, and Lincoln Brockmeyer added 12 points for the Gators.
 
Senior Lovenson Xavier led the Cougars with 15 points and and a game-high11 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. Senior Jake TenBerge had 12 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Senior Diaun Pinkett tallied 11 points, 7 boards, 4 assists and 4 steals. Sophomore Sam Norfleet IV also contributed 11 points, shooting 3-3 from the field for Chatham.
 
The first half was a back-and-forth affair, with neither team leading by more than 6 points until TenBerge's three-point basket gave the Cougars a 33-26 advantage with three-and-a-half minutes remaining until halftime. Allegheny would cut that lead to just one point, but a 6-0 run in the final two minutes of the half with all 6 points scored by Norfleet IV put Chatham up 39-32 at the intermission.
 
Zach Genther and Xavier drained consecutive three-pointers early in the second half. Drew Vizenor would also add a triple, then a thunderous put-back dunk by Xavier gave the Cougars a 52-38 advantage with 13 minutes remaining. That's when the Gators responded with a vengeance, knocking down six three-point baskets amidst a 24-3 scoring run that flipped the game on its head and gave Allegheny a 62-55 lead with just under five minutes to go. Chatham was not done yet, as an 8-0 run tied the score at 66 with 50 seconds left, but Lang knocked down the game-winning jumper with 30 seconds to go to give the Gators a comeback win.
 
The Cougars shot 43.6 percent (24-55), while the Gators knocked down 43.9 percent of their attempts from the field (25-57). Chatham's 52.6 percent free-throw percentage (10-19) was its lowest of the season. The Cougars held a 9-2 edge in steals while being outrebounded 37-31.
 
Men's Basketball will look to bounce back Wednesday at Franciscan, where they'll match up with the Barons at 7:30 p.m.