MEADVILLE, Pa. – Allegheny reeled off a 24-0 run midway through the second half before cruising to an 82-41 victory over Pitt-Titusville on Friday in the first day of the 2012 Greg Richards '08 Memorial Tip-Off Tournament. The result marked the second-largest margin of victory for the Gators at the David V. Wise Center, and solidified a meeting against Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) rival Wilmington in Saturday's tournament championship.

After a slow start, senior Devone McLeod triggered a jump-start for the Allegheny offense. Finishing with 15 points, five assists, three steals, and zero turnovers in 25 minutes of work, McLeod connected on a three with 7:08 left in the first to push the Gators' lead to 22-12. Allegheny never relinquished a double-digit cushion after that point, although the team led just 32-18 at the break.

Starting at the 15:06 mark of the second half, the Gators pieced together a punishing run that kept the Panthers off the board for seven minutes while the lead swelled to 67-27. Sophomore transfer Josh Valentic, who scored a team-high 16 points, canned a pair of three's to ignite the assault, while David DiBernardi, Gabe Seidman, and Ryan Stanko all connected from beyond the arc during the run.

Allegheny led by as many as 45 points during the tilt. The Gators had just 11 turnovers, while forcing 31 turnovers and totaling 19 steals.

D'Andre Corbin led a smothering defensive effort with a career-high six steals while he also added a game-best six assists. Outscoring Pitt-Titusville, 50-23, in the second frame, Allegheny scored 38 points off turnovers.

Third-year Head Coach Jim Driggs featured 15 players in the rotation on Friday, with 11 players adding to the score sheet. The Gators shot 46.6% for the game, including 22-of-43 (51.2%) in the second half.

In addition to Valentic and McLeod, Stanko, Clark Tritto and Marco Corona all finished in double figures. Stanko had one of his better all-around collegiate games. Despite scoring just 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting, he hauled down a career-high eight boards and had two steals. Tritto continues to integrate the outside jumper into his arsenal, and closed with 10 points and five rebounds. Corona was 5-of-7 from the floor in what served as a break-out performance for the third-year forward.

The Gators enjoyed a commanding edge in nearly every statistical category, although they were plagued by a woeful performance at the free-throw line after shooting 3-of-15 (20%).

Pitt-Titusville was led by Mark Houston, who scored 24 points while adding 13 rebounds and five blocks.