Strong second half not enough for Men’s Basketball in home opener

PITTSBURGH --- Carlow University men's basketball hosted Allegheny College for its home opener at Donahue Pavilion Wednesday night.

The Celtics outscored the Gators 43-28 in the second half, but a sluggish start saw Allegheny leave with an 82-57 win.

Tomasi Pavihi (Wellington, New Zealand/St. Mary's Ryken HS/College of Marin) led Carlow with 11 points, Gavin Moyer (Dillsburg, Pa./Northern York HS) pulled down five boards and Noah Kaniki (London, Ontario, Canada/The Kiski School /) dished out three assists in the effort.

Trailing by 40 at halftime, the Celtics strung together a 14-9 run over the span of six minutes to start the second half and outscored the Gators 18-5 the final eight minutes of regulation, but it was not enough to overcome the first half deficit.

Allegheny jumped out to a 15-point lead to start the game, and continued to pile on the points, going on a 20-0 run before DeJuan Allen (Atlanta, Ga./Marietta HS) hit a three-pointer to break Carlow's scoring drought. Foul trouble and turnovers in the first half compounded the Celtics' woes.

Allegheny outrebounded Carlow 51-38 and scored 26 points off 22 turnovers. Both teams scored 33 points apiece off the bench, and the Gators held a 36-28 advantage in points in the paint.

Ryan Lang led the Gators with a game-high 21 points, and two other players contributed double figures in the win.

The Celtics travel to Grove City College for a 5:30 p.m. game Nov. 14.