Manny Welch hit five second half three-pointers, Evan Greening posted his sixth-straight double-double, and the Pitt-Bradford men's hoops team snapped its two-game losing streak Saturday, downing Franciscan 73-59.
The final score does not tell the whole story as the Panthers led by as much as 29 in the second half before both teams emptied their benches.
Pitt-Bradford built an 11-point lead midway through the first half, outscoring the Barons 14-5 over a four-minute stretch. Franciscan scored seven straight points to cut the margin to 25-21 with 4:09 left in the first half, but the Panthers responded with six consecutive points of their own to take a 31-21 halftime lead.
Evan Greening scored on the first two offensive possessions of the second half for Pitt-Bradford, and Welch connected for three straight treys to extend the Panthers' lead to 44-25.
Welch would knock down consecutive three-pointers moments later, sending both the Pitt-Bradford bench and student section into pandemonium, to bury Franciscan for good.
The Panthers hit seven of their first nine long-range shots in the second half and finished with a season-high 10 threes.
After shooting just 38 percent from the field in the opening half, the Panthers hit 15 of 32 shots over the final 20 minutes. Pitt-Bradford outrebounded Franciscan by three and forced 20 turnovers.
Greening totaled 17 points on just 13 shots and 17 rebounds, and Welch finished with 15. Sahlil Harris added 10 points off the bench, and Fateem Brockington tallied eight points and four assists. Dylan Niedermeyer sparked the defense with five steals, and Jon Haenel recorded four.
"Overall it was a good team win," head coach Britt Moore said. "We played better defense in the first half and then the offense got going in the second half, especially Manny [Welch].
I thought the bench played well and kept the momentum going."
Pitt-Bradford improves to 3-3 on the season and 1-2 in the AMCC. The Panthers have the week off before traveling to Mt. Aloysius next Saturday.