Panther Men See Season End at La Roche

Photo credit to Wade Aiken.
Photo credit to Wade Aiken.

The Pitt-Bradford men's basketball team saw its season end Wednesday night in the first round of the AMCC tournament, falling 77-72 to La Roche.

Pitt-Bradford shot 50 percent from the floor, hit nine three-pointers and had four players finish in double-figures, but allowed too many second-chance opportunities. The Panthers had no answer inside for the Redhawks all night. La Roche outrebounded Pitt-Bradford by 14, gathering 19 offensive rebounds, and outscored the Blue and Gold by 22 in the paint.

Leading by one midway through the first half, Pitt-Bradford rattled off eight unanswered points, capped by Fateem Brockington's three at the 9:40 mark, to go up 21-13. After trading baskets, the Redhawks responded with a 13-2 scoring run, going ahead 28-26 on Thomas Trell's three-pointer, and they led 33-32 at the break.

La Roche took control early in the second half, scoring on four of five possessions at one point to build a 45-36 lead with 15:08 remaining. The margin would grow to 13 before long, and it was too little, too late before the Panthers started to chip away.

Pitt-Bradford did trim the deficit to five with 1:02 remaining, yet a basket on the ensuing La Roche possession all but sealed the outcome. The Redhawks only shot 46 percent for the game, but were 19-35 from the floor in the second half.

Evan Greening finished his Panther career with 21 points and eight rebounds, and Brockington added 20 points. The two seniors combined to shoot 15-26 from the floor. Dylan Niedermeyer contributed with 12 points off the bench, going a combined 6-6 from the field and free throw line, and Sahlil Harris added 10 points.

Pitt-Bradford finishes the season at 12-13.