HOUGHTON, N.Y. – The Pitt-Bradford men's basketball team suffered a second half comeback in favor of the Houghton Highlanders and as a result, fell to the home team 85-82 on Wednesday.

Junior Eric Matheson wrapped up a strong outing on the floor and paced all Panthers with 25 points, four rebounds and five assists. Senior Hiree Peoples put together his best night since an 18-point performance in the season opener with 16 points and five rebounds versus the Highlanders.

Fellow senior Tyler Fantaskey rounded out the top performers on the night with 13 points and seven rebounds, six defensively. Fantaskey led all Panthers from behind the arc with a 2-for-4 night.  

Despite trailing by nine points six minutes into the game, Pitt-Bradford (2-3) strung together several strong offensive possessions to put themselves right back in the contest. A three pointer from sophomore Manny Welch at the 8:03 mark of the first half gave the Panthers their first lead of the night.

Minutes later, Pitt-Bradford built a 10-point advantage that bobbled around that mark for the next four minutes. Houghton (3-2) managed to work its way back into the contest and eventually took a one-point lead with 50 seconds remaining. A three by Matheson with eight seconds on the clock gave the Panthers a two-point advantage at the break.

For the first half, Pitt-Bradford shot 40 percent from the floor, including 25 percent from behind the arc. The Panthers were 76.5 percent (13-of-17) from the line.

Houghton finished the first period shooting 46.7 percent from the court and was 8-of-10 from the line.

To begin the second half, Houghton's Johnathan Stowe banked one in off the glass to even the score. Peoples then responded with a jump shot and the two squads battled back and forth for opening 10 minutes of action.

The score was tied 60-60 with 9:30 left to play when the Highlanders grabbed the lead. A strong push by the Panthers and a layup from Matheson that drew an and-one had Pitt-Bradford back in control of the scoreboard.

The lead wouldn't stick however, as Houghton nipped at the Panthers' advantage and eventually stole the show on its home court, earning the win.

Pitt-Bradford finished the game shooting 44.4 percent, including 33.3 percent from three. The Panthers were 65.6 percent (21-of-32) from the line.

Houghton shot 43.5 percent, including 34.8 percent from behind the arc. The Highlanders were 71.9 percent (23-of-32) from the stripe.

"We gave good effort tonight but didn't finish," said head coach Britt Moore. "There were too many 50/50 rebounds that they came up with. We need to get better for the conference game on Sunday."

Pitt-Bradford now sets its sights on the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opener versus Franciscan on Sunday, Dec. 7, in Steubenville, Ohio. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.