GAMBIER, Ohio – Three-point shooting was the Kenyon College men's basketball team's downfall during Saturday's close contest with the visiting Allegheny College Gators. The Lords connected on just 3-of-20 three-point attempts (15.0 percent) and wound up swallowing a 59-56 conference loss.

Despite their struggles from long range, the Lords never really let the Gators out of their sight. Neither team led by more than four points in the first half and Allegheny's largest lead in the second half was nine points.

After trailing 31-28 at the half, Kenyon scored the first eight points of the second half and jumped ahead of the Gators, 36-31. During the run, John Bray scored four points, while Tim Connolly and Cooper Handelsman chipped in with two apiece. From that point on, however, Kenyon went cold.

The Lords shot just 29.4 percent (10-of-34) in the second half and, when it mattered most, made only four field goals over the game's final ten minutes. The dry spell made plenty of room for the Gators to go on their own tear. Within a five minute span, Kenyon's 36-31 lead was flipped to a 51-42 advantage for Allegheny.

Kenyon (6-13, 4-8 NCAC) whittled away at its deficit until it closed to within one point (56-55) with a little more than three minutes left in the game. Allegheny then tacked on two free throws to bump its lead up to three points. The Lords followed up by missing their next three shots, but finally drew a bit closer when Connolly hit 1-of-2 free throws with just 23 seconds remaining.

When Allegheny got the ball back, Bray purposely fouled Conor Macomber, who canned two more free throws for Allegheny with just 15 seconds left.

After a timeout, Kenyon had two more looks at a three-pointer to tie the game, but missed on both of them. One more desperation shot, just inside the arc, was also off the mark.

Allegheny (10-9, 7-5 NCAC) did not share the same struggle as Kenyon. The Gators shot just 38.0 percent overall (19-of-50) but made 47.1 percent of their three-pointers (8-of-17). Josh Valentic, who drained two of those long balls, led the Gators with 19 points. No other Allegheny player scored more than nine.

Kenyon was led by freshman Phillip Crampton, who rang up a personal best 12 points. He was 3-of-4 from the floor and 6-of-7 at the free throw line. Handelsman and Bray both finished with ten. Connolly, the Lords' leading scorer, managed just five points, but did pull down a game-high eight rebounds.

The road ahead doesn't get an easier for the Lords. They'll host the No. 10-ranked College of Wooster Fighting Scots on Wednesday night at Tomsich Arena.