Hamburg, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's basketball team was unable to hold onto a 2nd half lead, as they were defeated 90-89 by Hilbert on a basket in the final seconds.
Pitt-Bradford jumped out to an early lead, as Phillip Wallace made a three after a Lennon Lindholm blocked shot. Jeremy Rodriguez was able to score the next eight points for the Panthers, driving to the basket for three of layups and adding two free throws. After the third layup put the Panthers ahead 11-8, the hosts scored 12 straight points to take a 20-11 lead. Nathan Schneider ended the rally with a layup with 11:50 remaining in the half. Hilbert called a timeout after Schneider's basket was answered, but the Panthers came out stronger following the break as Lindholm hit threes on back-to-back possessions and Gavyn Mason made a layup to cut the lead to just one point. The Hawks slowed the Panther rally with a three-pointer of their own, but it was immediately answered by a third Lindholm long ball and a fast break layup for Gus Napoleon after a steal, putting the Panthers back in front.
Over the next four minutes, the teams exchanged the lead 6 times before the Panthers were able to string together possessions to jump ahead. With just under five minutes left in the half, Phillip Wallace made a three on a pass from Rodriguez to break a 36-36 deadlock. A pair of Rodriguez free throws were answered by a Hilbert three, but Napoleon added two from the line and Trey Oyler made a three to give Pitt-Bradford a seven-point edge. They maintained this lead for the next two minutes as Caden Beldin made a layup and Wallace added to free throws, but the hosts scored six unanswered in the last 1:11 to send the game to the break with the Panthers leading 50-49.
The Hawks were able to come out of the break with four straight to retake the lead, but Schneider was able to tie things up with a three-point play with 16:53 left. The lead changed hands three times before the Panthers scored eleven in a row to go ahead by ten points. Napoleon hit a corner three to start the rally and Wallace followed it with a layup. Schneider converted another three-point play before Oyler made another long ball to put Pitt-Bradford ahead 69-59. The Panthers struggled after the Oyler three, as they were outscored 12-3 over a five-minute span, allowing Hilbert to whittle the lead down to one point. The Panthers slowed the Hawks' charge through a Wallace three-point play and baskets from Napoleon and Beldin, but Hilbert was able to retake the lead at 83-82 with 4:22 remaining.
The Hosts pushed their lead to six points through three free throws and a layup, but the Panthers were able to put together one final charge. Napoleon started the rally with a three-pointer and Schneider cut the lead to one with a pair of free throws. The Panthers were able to stop Hilbert for the third straight possession with a minute to go, and Rodriguez converted, driving to the basket to make a go-ahead layup with 48 seconds left. After the layup, Nate Schneider was able to come away with a loose ball with 26 seconds on the clock and was intentionally fouled. Schneider was not able to make the front end of a one-and-one, which gave the hosts an opportunity to go back ahead, which they did as they made a floating jump shot in the lane with five seconds remaining to take a 90-89 lead. The Panthers played out the final possession, not allowing Hilbert to set their defense. Schneider took the inbound pass and raced upcourt where he was able to get a decent look at the basket, but his jumper bounced off the iron, ending the game.
Jeremy Rodriguez scored a game-high 24 points, shooting 7-8 from the field, 2-3 from beyond the arc, and 8-8 from the free throw line. Phillip Wallace finished with 16 points, while also recording 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and three blocked shots. Gus Napoleon chipped in 15 points off the bench, making 5-7 from the field, including 3-4 from three and a pair of free throws. Nathan Schneider finished with 13 points and led the Panthers with 5 rebounds and 7 assists.
The Panthers fall back to .500 with a 9-9 overall record and a 3-4 record through the first rotation of AMCC games. They will face a tough task as they look to get back in the win column this weekend, as they travel to Pittsburgh to take on top of the conference LaRoche. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.
