University of Rochester men's basketball nearly doubled up Allegheny College, 38-18, in the first half and held on late to open its season at the Chuck Resler Tournament with a 76-65 win on Friday evening inside the Louis Alexander Palestra.
With the win, URochester moves to 1-0 on the year and advances to Saturday's Resler Tournament Championship game, where they'll face Vassar College, who defeated Denison in Friday's earlier matchup, 68-60.
The Yellowjackets shot 42.9 percent from the field and knocked down six triples in the first half, while holding the Gators to just 23.3 percent shooting and outrebounding Allegheny, 32-15. Rochester scored 10 straight before the Gators got on the scoreboard, forcing Allegheny to use a timeout less than three minutes into the contest, and knocked down its six shots from the field.
Justin Odibo and
Jordan Owusu each hit jumpers before
M.J. Young cashed one of his five, made threes on the night, and after a miss on the other end, Young found Odibo for a three to make it 10-0.
After the Gators got on the scoreboard, Odibo knocked down another triple, while Owusu's steal and slam put the 'Jackets up 12, 15-3, just under four minutes into the contest.
Allegheny would close the gap to six over the next six minutes, as the Yellowjackets shot just 1-for-9 from the floor over the next 5:55, with Ryan Priester's triple just shy of the nine-and-a-half minute mark cutting URochester's lead to 18-12 with 9:34 left in the first.
Off an offensive rebound, though, Young got the 'Jackets back on the scoreboard with a layup from
Sam Henderson, one of a team-high seven assists on the night for the graduate student, and UR would get on another run.
Over the next four-plus minutes, Rochester answered the Gators' 9-3 stretch with a 16-0 run, shooting 6-for-8 from the field, 3-for-3 from distance and forcing a pair of turnovers to stretch the lead back to double digits.
Young followed his layup with another triple, while Odibo sank a jumper and slammed home a dunk before Young and Henderson hit back-to-back triples to make it a 33-12 Rochester advantage with 5:10 until the half.
Johnny Mayhew's 1-for-2 trip to the line then made it a 22-point advantage with 4:46 left in the first half, before Lincoln Brockmeyer slowed the run with a triple to cut into URochester's lead.
Owusu and Mayhew each added layups over the final four minutes of the first half, before Tanner Miller's three-pointer made it a 38-18 Rochester lead at the halftime break.
Young got the third quarter started where he left off, hitting another triple, while
Paul McGillion got on the scoreboard as Rochester took its largest lead of the night, 52-25, on
Malachi Moore's triple just over five minutes into the second half.
Moore's three capped off a 14-7 stretch for the 'Jackets to start the second period, but Allegheny would slowly trim the deficit, first to 20 over the next two minutes, and eventually to within single digits down the stretch of the second half.
Deniz Akbas' first of six second-half threes capped a 10-3 Allegheny run to trim Rochester's lead to 20, 55-35, with 12:07 remaining, while back-to-back Akbas' triples made it a 13-point game with 9:28 left, finishing off an 11-1 run for the Gators.
Odibo's jumper and Owusu's free throw pushed the advantage back to 16, but Akbas hit two more, while Jayson Perry slammed home a dunk and converted an and-one opportunity to pull the Gators within 11, 67-56, with 3:09 to play.
On Rochester's ensuing possession, a foul sent Owusu to the line, where the sophomore made them both, while after a missed three by Lincoln Brockmeyer, Owusu sank a layup with 2:15 remaining to stretch the 'Jackets' lead back to 15.
However, Akbas wasn't done, as the sophomore sank another three off a missed free throw by Miller with 1:49 left, and then after back-to-back UR turnovers, hit another to make it a six-point game with 1:06 to play.
Once again, though, Owusu came up clutch, sinking a step-back three on Rochester's next possession to give Rochester some breathing room, up nine with 34 seconds left. And after Allegheny turned it over, Owusu punctuated the win with an emphatic slam to push the 'Jackets' lead to 76-65 before the final buzzer sounded.
Young led the Yellowjackets with 19 points, shooting 7-for-10 from the field and 5-for-7 from three, while Odibo and Owusu joined the sophomore in double figures with 17 and 16 points apiece.
Henderson dished out a game-high seven assists, while
David Ackles grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
For Allegheny, Akbas had a game-high 20 points, shooting 7-for-11 from the field and 6-for-9 from beyond the arc.
The Yellowjackets will play for the Chuck Resler Tournament title on Saturday, Nov. 14, when they face Vassar College in the Championship Game at 8:00 p.m. inside the Louis Alexander Palestra.
