The Big Red battled back from a 12-point second half deficit but Allegheny got 24 points and 14 rebounds from James Ness to go along with 13 points and a big 3-pointer down the stretch from Ryan Stanko.  That would be enough to hold off Denison, 66-63 from Meadville, Pa.

Allegheny held a 25-23 lead at halftime after both squads struggled to warm up from the field.  With 11:33 left in the contest, Allegheny's Devon McCleod scored down low to give the Gators a 12 point lead and cap off a 9-0 run.

Denison would start to whittle away at the Allegheny lead and a Marr Mansfield (Westerville, Ohio/South) jumper with 3:30 remaining was the capstone on a 13-6 run by the Big Red which trimmed the Gator lead to six.

On the next trip down the floor Stanko connected on his third 3-pointer of the game, putting Allegheny back up nine with three minutes to play.  Despite the momentum shifter, Denison continued to fight and four straight points by Dimonde Hale (Columbus, Ohio/Northland) had Denison within five points with just over a minute to play. 

Allegheny's De'Andre Corbin matched Hale with four unanswered points to regain a 7-point lead.  With three seconds on the clock Jon Akpapunam (Bowie, Md./St. Mary's) hit a 3-pointer to make it a one possession game but Allegheny managed to inbound the ball and run out the clock.

Hale led Denison with 22 points and 12 rebounds in 37 minutes.  Mansfield chipped in 11 points and seven boards off the bench while Akpapunam ended the day with eight points.

Denison falls to 8-16 overall and 5-10 in conference play.  DU will close out their regular season on Wednesday (Feb. 16) when they host Ohio Wesleyan at 8 p.m.