BRADFORD, Pa. – The Pitt-Bradford men's basketball team used a late second-half surge of points to defeat the Franciscan Barons 62-58 on Saturday afternoon at the KOA Arena.
Junior Eric Matheson put together a gut-check type performance with 18 points, five rebounds, all defensive, and four assists while dealing with questionable calls throughout the contest.
Senior Keith Burgess registered 12 points, one rebound and two assists, while junior Steven Owens put together a solid performance with 10 points, four rebounds and two assists. He also tacked on two steals.
Pitt-Bradford (10-7, 7-3) overcame struggles on both ends of the court to begin the second half after leading Franciscan (4-13, 2-9) 27-22 at the break. The Panthers opened the contest on a tear with a 17-point run that went from the 14:32 mark of the first half to 8:05 when the Barons finally found a bucket.
The Panthers allowed Franciscan back in the contest prior to the break with a run of its own. They then entered the locker room with just the five-point advantage to show for the first half efforts.
Pitt-Bradford shot 45.8 percent from the field in the first twenty minutes, including 28.6 from three. The Panthers were 3-of-5 from the line. Franciscan shot 50 percent and hit one three pointer on four attempts. The Barons were 3-of-4 from the stripe.
Franciscan opened the second half much like the Panthers began the first. Nearly three minutes into the period and the visitors had their first lead since the opening minute, 33-27. It would only build from there as sloppy play and more questionable calls had the home team in a rut and fighting to stay alive.
The Barons' lead built to as many as nine points with five minutes to play when Pitt-Bradford found a rhythm offensively and drew some timely fouls to march right back into the contest. With 40 seconds to go, Matheson made both free throws to snag the lead, 57-56.
The Barons did their best to send the Panthers to the line in hopes of seeing a missed free-throw attempt, but Matheson, sophomore Manny Welch and Burgess iced the game with making the shots they needed. As a result, Pitt-Bradford escaped with a nail-biter type victory.
"Gut check win today," said head coach Britt Moore. "We started great then went into cruise control and they took advantage. We stepped up the last six or seven minutes and started defending. Tim Atkinson brought a huge spark and that carried over. We executed down the stretch and will take any win."
Pitt-Bradford shot 43.8 percent, including 30.8 percent from behind the arc. The Panthers were 16-of-21 from the line. Franciscan shot 53.8 percent and made 6-of-13 from three. The Barons finished 10-of-12 from the stripe.
Pitt-Bradford now turns its attention to Penn State Behrend. The Panthers travel to Erie, Pa., on Wednesday, Jan. 28, for an 8 p.m. tipoff.
