Hamburg, N.Y. – The 6th-seeded University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's basketball team kept their season alive on Tuesday night as they upset #3 Hilbert on the road 80-79. The Panthers used a huge night from senior Nathan Schneider, who scored 38 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and dished out 9 assists.
The post-season victory was the first for the program since the 2015-16 season. Said head coach Jesse DeLoof "I'm just really proud of these guys. After losing to Hilbert twice at the buzzer in the regular season, you could feel the relief at the final whistle, and for us to battle back like we did in the 2nd half made it even better."
The Panthers jumped out to a strong start, as they scored on their first three possessions. Schneider started the game with a driving layup and after Lennon Lindholm made a midrange jumper in the lane Jeremy Rodriguez hit a three from the wing to put the Panthers up 7-2 after 90 seconds. The Hawks quickly responded, scoring 8 of the next 10 points to take a 10-9 lead.
The teams exchanged the lead 4 times over the next eight minutes before the Panthers scored six in a row to take a lead. Schneider converted a three-point play before assisting on a Trey Oyler three to go ahead 24-19. Over the last eight minutes of the half, the Hawks slowly whittled away the Panther advantage, eventually going ahead by four in the final minute. Schneider made four straight free throws to tie the game at 36 before the hosts hit a last-second three to send the game to the break with the Panthers trailing 39-36.
Pitt-Bradford was slow out of the gate in the second half as the Hawks were able to build an 11-point lead in just over four minutes of action. The Panthers began their comeback at the 12-minute mark as Schneider hit two more free throws to start a Panther rally. On the ensuing possession, Schneider picked up a steal on the defensive end and Gavyn Mason made a putback layup, cutting the lead to 7. Lindholm made another big three the next time down the floor and Schneider made a short jumper with 8:41 left to put the Panthers down three.
After a pair of unanswered Hilbert layups extended the lead back to 7, Schneider made threes on back-to-back possessions and converted two more from the Line to give the Panthers their first lead of the half at 62-61. Both teams battled for the next few minutes before Hilbert was able to retake the lead and go ahead by five with three minutes remaining. Rodriguez was able to get the Panthers back in the game with an old-fashioned three-point play and Mason tied things up at 72 with a pair of clutch free throws with 2:20 to go.
Over the last 2 minutes, Schneider took over, scoring the Panthers' last 8 points of the game. He drove to the basket for a layup to put Pitt-Bradford ahead and then after a momentum-swinging slam dunk on the other end, converted a clutch three-point play to restore the lead. In the final minute, he helped put the game away, grabbing a pair of defensive rebounds and making 3 of 4 from the line to put the game away.
Schneider led all players in the game with 38 points, 15 rebounds, and 9 assists. He played all 40 minutes, made 9-13 from the field, 3-3 from beyond the arc, and 17-18 from the line. "I told Nate on Sunday that he was going to need to will us to a win tonight, and he certainly did that!" added DeLoof. Lennon Lindholm and Jeremy Rodriguez each finished with 9 points, while Gavyn Mason scored 6 and collected 8 rebounds. "
The Panthers (12-14, 5-8 AMCC) will advance to the semifinals of the AMCC tournament. They will take on #2 seeded Penn State-Altoona in the 2nd game of the semifinal doubleheader on Friday at approximately 2:30 p.m.. The games will be hosted in Pittsburgh by top-seeded LaRoche.
