Allegheny (4-4) was paced by senior forward Matt Majzlik, who finished with 25 points and nine rebounds. Junior guard Casey McCloskey chipped in with 24 points, five rebounds and four assists. McCloskey finished six-of-nine from three-point range, hitting six-of-seven in the first half.
Thiel (2-5) got a 25-point, 10-rebound, five-steal, four-block evening from sophomore forward Joe Herrmann.Senior forward Stephen Laird added 14 points while freshman guard Pete Farley totaled 10 points, three assists and three rebounds.
Thiel tied the game for the fourth time in the opening period at 36-36 with just under three minutes to play before Allegheny finished the half on a 10-0 run to take a 46-36 lead into the break.
The Gators pushed their second-half lead to 14 (61-47) with 13:42 remaining in the contest before the Tomcats battled back with a 14-0 run over the next 3:39 to tie the game at 61-61.
Allegheny responded to the Thiel run by outscoring the Tomcats 10-2 over the next 5:32, going up by eight (73-65) with 4:31 to play.
Thiel got back to within one (75-74) on a Herrmann three with 2:01 remaining, but the Gators knocked down seven-of-eight free throws down the stretch in recording the eight-point victory.
Allegheny finished with a 50-34 advantage on the boards and shot 46.0 percent (29-63) from the field, including seven-of-14 (50.0%) from three-point range. The Gators also finished with a 44-32 advantage in points in the paint.
Thiel forced 20 Allegheny turnovers in the game, converting them into 25 points. They shot 41.9 percent (31-74) from the floor, including 52.9 percent (10-19) from three-point range.
The Tomcats will return to action on Thursday, Dec. 29 when they will participate in the College of Wooster Tournament. Thiel will face Lycoming College at 5:30 p.m. in the opening round.
Newspaper Box Score Allegheny College vs Thiel College 12-14-05 7:30 p.m. at Greenville, Pa. - Beeghly Gym At Greenville, Pa. - Beeghly Gym ALLEGHENY COLLEGE 82, THIEL COLLEGE 74 ALLEGHENY COLLEGE (4-4) Matt Majzlik 12-17 1-4 25; Casey McCloskey 7-16 4-4 24; Brad Boni 2-5 4-6 8; Bill Babe 1-4 4-5 6; Larry Sharp 1-4 3-4 6; Ben Torsney 3-9 0-0 6; Jimmy Savage 1-5 1-4 3; Ryan Hollihan 1-2 0-0 2; Brad Witucki 1-1 0-0 2; Mike Sefscik 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-63 17-27 82. THIEL COLLEGE (2-5) Joe Herrmann 10-20 0-2 25; Stephen Laird 5-10 2-2 14; Pete Farley 5-12 0-0 10; James Beedle 4-8 0-0 9; Brad Bowman 3-7 0-0 6; Damien Williams 1-3 0-0 3; Tony White 1-3 0-2 3; Ross Watson 1-5 0-1 2; Andre Jones 1-3 0-0 2; Jason Manningham 0-1 0-0 0; Gary Gates 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 31-74 2-7 74. Allegheny College............. 46 36 - 82 Thiel College................. 36 38 - 74 3-point goals-Allegheny College 7-14 (Casey McCloskey 6-9; Larry Sharp 1-2; Bill Babe 0-2; Jimmy Savage 0-1), Thiel College 10-19 (Joe Herrmann 5-9; Stephen Laird 2-3; James Beedle 1-2; Damien Williams 1-1; Tony White 1-1; Gary Gates 0-1; Ross Watson 0-1; Brad Bowman 0-1). Fouled out--Allegheny College-None, Thiel College-None. Rebounds-Allegheny College 50 (Ben Torsney 9; Matt Majzlik 9), Thiel College 34 (Joe Herrmann 10). Assists-Allegheny College 16 (Jimmy Savage 6), Thiel College 16 (Joe Herrmann 4). Total fouls-Allegheny College 11, Thiel College 21. A-329