DuBois, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's basketball team jumped out to an early lead against Penn State-DuBois on Saturday afternoon and closed out their fall semester with a 91-67 win.
The Panthers shot 54.8% from the field and 58.3% from three to take a 47-24 lead after the first half. The Panthers pushed their lead to as many as 28 points, before deepening their rotation for the final 10 minutes of play to ease their way to a 24-point win.
The Panthers allowed an early three as the hosts jumped in front to begin the game, but the Panthers quickly got to the basket to make 5 early layups and two free throws to force a timeout, leading 12-5. Out of the timeout, the Lions scored 7 of 9 to cut the Panther advantage to 2 points, but 5 quick points from Nathan Schneider stopped the rally. After the Lions made a field goal to answer a Phillip Wallace three, Lennon Lindholm and Jeremy Rodriguez each made layups to extend the lead to double digits. Following another timeout, the Panthers locked down on defense, keeping the Lions off the board for a four-minute stretch. In that span, Phillip Wallace scored 11 points, including three long balls and Gus Napoleon added a three to push the lead to 24 points. Over the final five minutes of the half, the Panthers limited the Lions to 8 points, while Lindholm made a three-pointer and a trio of free throws to send the game to the break with the Panthers up 47-24.
The Panthers continued pushing after the break, outscoring their hosts 11 to 7 in the first five minutes of the half. Wallace punctuated the run with an old-fashioned three-point lead at the 15:10 mark, putting the Panthers up 58-31. With 12 minutes to go, the Panthers began to deepen their rotation, and the hosts attacked, using full-court pressure and a half-court trap to cut into the lead. Sensing a change in momentum, head coach Jesse DeLoof brought Schneider and Wallace back into the game with 8 and a half minutes left. They quickly quelled the rally as Schneider made two straight baskets and Wallace stole the ball to send Jeremy Rodriguez on a fast break and then made a jumper of his own to restore a 26-point lead. The Panthers returned to the bench in the final four minutes of play. Down the stretch, Nathan Nootbaar and Noah Wichert each made a pair of layups and Jakobi Flynn and Trayshon Tucker both hit threes to close the game.
Phillip Wallace finished with a season-high 23 points. He shot 9-14 from the field and made 4 of 6 from three. He also added 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks, and a steal. Nathan Schneider was extremely efficient, making 8 of 10 from the field for 19 points. BJ Williams scored 6 points and led the Panthers with 6 rebounds, while Jeremy Rodriguez scored 8 and dished out 5 assists. 14 different Panthers scored in the game.
The win moves the Panthers back to .500 on the season with a 5-5 record. They will go on a break for the holidays before returning to action for one final non-conference tilt on Friday, December 30th at Grove City. Tipoff is slated for 1:00 p.m.
