BRADFORD, Pa. – Senior Lucas Pichette posted his first double-double of the season and junior Eric Matheson scored 28 points as the Pitt-Bradford men's basketball team defeated the Alfred Saxons 82-73 on Tuesday night at the KOA Arena.
Pichette tallied a total of 16 points and 11 rebounds on 5-of-7 shooting to be the driving force in the paint all night long for the Panthers. Matheson tacked on nine rebounds, missing the double-double by one, and five assists to cap a solid night on the floor. He was an eye-popping 16-of-18 from the free-throw line.
Also putting together a strong night was senior Keith Burgess. Burgess registered 10 points and five rebounds while going 2-for-2 at the line.
Pitt-Bradford (4-5, 1-1) won the battle on the boards 35-29 that proved to be the difference in the outcome. The Panthers also appeared to move the ball better throughout the night as they racked up a total of 14 assists.
Alfred (6-2) and the Panthers exchanged buckets to open the contest before Pitt-Bradford went on an early run to build a 10-point lead with 14 minutes to play in the first. The Panthers built their lead well into double digits as the clock ticked through the opening period.
The Saxons made an attempt to cut into the deficit before the break, but found little to no answer as the teams entered the locker rooms with the Panthers in front, 44-33.
Alfred put together a strong showing in the second period as it pushed its way back into the contest from the start. With 12 minutes to play, the lead was at just three points and hovered in the single digits for the majority of the period.
Pitt-Bradford found a way in the game's final moments to pull away and left the court with a win heading into the Saturday's Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference showdown with conference-foe Penn State Behrend.
"This was a good win coming back from break," said head coach Britt Moore. "It's great to see Lucas play well inside. I thought we really defended well the last five minutes and that was the difference."
Pitt-Bradford welcomes the Lions to the KOA Arena on Saturday, Jan. 3, with tipoff set for 3 p.m.
