Seton LaSalle holds off South Allegheny charge to earn signature win

By: Don Rebel
Tuesday, January 6, 2026 | 11:26 PM

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Last season’s WPIAL Class 3A title winners showed the heart of a champion in cutting an 18-point third quarter deficit to only one point with two minutes left in regulation before the tank went empty.

South Allegheny could not finish what would have been an amazing comeback as it fell short at Seton LaSalle on Tuesday night, 71-64.

The loss was the fourth straight for the Gladiators, dropping them to 7-6 overall this season, and was the first section loss for the program since falling to Montour on Jan. 30, 2024.

“The coach in me says we shouldn’t have put ourselves in that position,” South Allegheny coach Tony DiCenzo said. “Play better throughout the game, and it’s a possession-to-possession game, and you don’t need to use all that energy to just get there and not have enough to finish.”

Seton LaSalle scored seven of the final eight points to secure the signature win that looked like it was going to be a cakewalk for most of the contest.

“Our three losses, we had leads going into the fourth quarter and we were on the other side of them,” Seton LaSalle coach Kenny Klase said. “We are learning from those experiences, hopefully, and we’re growing as a team. (South Allegheny) is a great team, so we talked about needing a win like this to prove to ourselves and everybody that Seton LaSalle basketball is on the map.”

The Rebels took control early thanks to the combination of a full-court pressure defense that seemed to rush the Gladiators into mistakes and an aggressive mindset by the Seton guards to beat their defenders up top and go strong to the rim.

“We worked a lot over the summer in playing a little faster and with pressure in trying to make teams uncomfortable,” Klase said. “The 2-2-1 is not meant to make everybody turn it over. We want them to make some of their own mistakes.”

That was evident early as South Allegheny struggled once it got into its half-court offense with turnovers and missed shots. Nearly all of its 10 first-quarter points came on layups off of transition as Seton LaSalle built a 12-point lead after one quarter.

While the Gladiators struggled on offense, the Rebels relied on their strong guard play from juniors DayVaughn Williams, Charles Crummie and freshman Gabe Gizzi.

Williams scored 16 of his game-high 28 points in the first half before foul trouble slowed him down a bit in the final two quarters.

“He’s such a hard worker, and I’m so proud of him,” Klase said. “He’s going to continue to have a lot of success. This year, he is coming into his own and playing with a lot of confidence.”

Not much changed in the second and third quarters as Seton LaSalle maintained its double-digit lead that reached its zenith with 2:40 left in the third quarter at 52-34.

By the midway point of the four quarter, South Allegheny had cut the lead to 11 points, 62-51.

Then, over the next two minutes, the Gladiators outscored the Rebels 12-2 to pull to within a single point.

Shots from the outside that had not been falling all evening were drilled from behind the arc on 3-pointers by Smaj Reason, Fischer Ielase and Drew Cook with Cook adding a conventional three-point play.

However, Williams had the biggest play of the game with 1:39 left when he hit a shot and was fouled. His free throw put the Rebels back up by four, 67-63.

Senior Will Martin, the Seton LaSalle hero in the WPIAL Class 2A football championship game, hit 3 of 4 free throws in the waning moments to secure a win. Those were big considering Martin had only made three free throws in his last 15 attempts.

Drew Cook scored 16 of his 27 points in the second half and was a big reason the Gladiators nearly pulled off the big comeback. Ielase added 12 points for SA, which now hosts first-place South Park on Thursday.

“My guys were willing to fight and battle,” DiCenzo said. “We just have to find a way. We know the talent is there and the plan is there. We just have to find a way to come together and not give up on each other. Eventually, it’s going to all come together.”

South Allegheny and Seton LaSalle are both 2-1 in the section, one game behind 3-0 South Park.

The Rebels have won four straight games and are 9-3 this season.

Martin scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half while Gizzi added 11 points for the Rebels.

Tags: Seton La Salle, South Allegheny