GREENVILLE, Pa. (Dec. 9, 2009) – A wild finish tipped in the direction of Thiel College Wednesday night at Beeghly Gymnasium as the Tomcats edged Allegheny, 84-82, in men's basketball action. 

Down by one with 13 seconds to play, Thiel's Blair Rozenblad (Youngstown, Ohio/Kennedy Catholic) wove through traffic to lay in the final two of his game-high 21 points to give the Tomcats an, 83-82, advantage.

The Gators (4-3), who had exchanged the lead with Thiel 10 times in the second half alone, quickly moved the ball down court. Donte Briscoe collected an errant Henry Heeter three-pointer and quickly called for a nonexistent timeout with three seconds to play.

The resulting technical put the Tomcats' Devon Adams (Philadelphia, Pa./George Junior Republic) on the line with a chance to all but end the game. Adams misfired on his first attempt but converted on the second to give Thiel the two-point edge.

Briscoe had a last-second chance at redemption, but his shot didn't go down as time expired and a raucous Tomcat crowd spilled onto the floor.

The thrilling finish was a far cry from the first half in which both teams struggled to build and maintain momentum.

Thiel burst out of the gate, building a 10-point advantage within the game's first five minutes. Allegheny, however, chipped away at the Tomcat margin to gain its first lead of the game, 37-36, with just over a minute to play in the opening period.

An Aundra Jones (Youngstown, Ohio/Kennedy Catholic) jumper with 40 seconds to go in the frame allowed Thiel to go to intermission nursing a, 40-38, lead.

Thiel dominated the boards, ending up with 34 rebounds to the Gators' 26. Thirteen of the Tomcats' rebounds came on the offensive glass, resulting in 22 second-chance points.

Four Thiel starters wound up with double-digit scoring totals, led by Rozenblad. Adams and Sean Devinney (Arsenal, Pa./Central Catholic) (Arsenal, Pa./Central Catholic) notched 15, while Corey Chaffee (Erie, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) helped out with an even 10.

Allegheny was paced by George Raftis and Briscoe, who each scored 15 points.

Thiel (3-4) plays host to Washington & Jefferson at 3 p.m. on Saturday.