Bradford, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's basketball team escaped Alfred State with a win after two last-second free throws rimmed out giving the Panthers a 97-96 victory in their first AMCC game of the season.
- The Panthers got off to a quick start in the contest, as they jumped out to a 9-3 lead after five minutes. Isaiah Archie started the scoring with two free throws and then made a putback layup. Nathan Schneider also made a basket inside and hit a three to cap the rally. The Pioneers were able to respond, however, as they quickly outscored Pitt-Bradford 12-2 over the next 3 minutes to take the lead. Trey Oyler ended the rally with a three from the wing and Dylan Meyer kept the Panthers within two possessions of the hosts as he made two putbacks, including a three-point play.
- Gus Napoleon hit a three with 7:20 remaining in the half to give the Panthers the lead but saw Alfred State quickly retake it with back-to-back baskets. Isaiah Archie scored six more points in the last two minutes of the half to give the Panthers the lead and push the advantage to 5 points. Just before the half, Caden Beldin was able to gather a rebound and race downcourt in the final seconds. He pulled up for a three with one second remaining and was fouled on the shot. Beldin made all three free throws to send the game to the break with the Panthers leading 38-32.
- The Pioneers made numerous attempts to erase the Panther lead in the second half but saw each of them rebuffed and the 5 point advantage restored in short order. The first of these came with 17:11 to go when a three-pointer saw Alfred State close the gap to one point. Greg Archie was able to hit a layup on the next possession and following a stop, quickly made a second in a row to put the Panthers up 52-47.
- Napoleon hit two more big threes at 12:36 and 10:55 to maintain the Panther advantage. Isaiah and Greg Archie carried the Panther offense for an eight-minute stretch, as the pair scored 16 of 18 for the Panthers. Isaiah made 4 field goals and three foul shots in the run, while Greg made one layup and a three from the corner.
- The Pioneers were able to battle back and tie the score at 85 with 2:50 to go. Napoleon was able to immediately restore the lead by making a layup after breaking the Pioneer press and Dylan Meyer made a putback layup to push the lead back to 4 points. An Isaiah Archie slam dunk put the Panthers up 7 with 50 seconds to go, but Alfred State quickly hit a three to cut the lead back to four.
- In the final 40 seconds, the Panthers missed 3 of 6 from the line, allowing the hosts one last chance to tie or win the game. After the final missed free throw with 10 seconds to go, the Panthers were overzealous in trying to stop the last-second shot and fouled the shooter on the game-winning three-point attempt. With 0.3 seconds on the clock, the Alfred State shooter saw his first and third free throws roll off the rim, and Nathan Schneider grabbed the final rebound to preserve the victory for Pitt-Bradford.
Isaiah Archie led the Panthers in the win. He played all 40 minutes, scored 33 points on 11-22 from the field and 11-14 from the line, and also recorded 6 rebounds and 7 assists. Gus Napoleon exploded for 15 points off the bench. After playing just 8 minutes earlier in the season, Napoleon played 21 in the win, making 5-9 from the field and 4-7 from three. Nathan Schneider and Caden Beldin also finished in double figures for the Panthers, both scoring 11 points. Dylan Meyer was the teams leading rebounder, as he grabbed 9. He also added 9 points on 4-5 from the field.
The Panthers are now 5-3 on the season and 1-0 in AMCC conference play. They will be back in action this Saturday when they travel to Penn State-Altoona for a big matchup with the first-place Lions. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 4:00 p.m.