Aurora, N.Y. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's basketball took on Wells College on Wednesday night, opening conference play with a 99-70 win.
Pitt-Bradford jumped out to an immediate lead as they quickly took a 7-0 lead over their first three possessions. Jamarion Butler started the scoring with a midrange jumper and then after Gus Napoleon made a three, Samuel Brown hit a pair of free throws. Jesse Laster assisted both early baskets. Over the next few minutes, the Panthers added to their lead, outscoring the Express 10-2. Laster bookended the run with a pair of threes while Keshon Kittrell and Trey Davis each made baskets inside.
The Panthers maintained their lead for the majority of the half and pushed it to 22 with just under two minutes to go. After a Wells jump shot got the deficit to 14, Pitt-Bradford scored the next eight in a row. Coby Farley stole the ball in the frontcourt and turned it into a fast-break layup before Butler stole the ball on the next possession and raced to the basket for a slam dunk to force a Wells timeout. After the break, Laster made two free throws and Butler added another layup. Wells scored 8 of the final 10 points of the half to send the game to the break with the Panthers ahead 48-31.
The Wells run continued as the game began the second half, as a 3-minute scoreless stretch for the Panthers after the restart allowed the hosts to cut the lead to single digits. The rally came to an end at the 16-minute mark as Farley made three long balls around a Gus Napoleon jumper to push the advantage back to 16. Napoleon and Davis each added a long ball to extend the lead to 20 before Butler threw down slam dunks on back-to-back possessions.
Wells was able to slowly whittle the lead to 15, but Napoleon answered with a pair of free throws and a three. The Panthers went to the bench down the home stretch, where they were able to put the game away, making 8-12 free throws over the last 4 minutes. Trayshon Tucker scored 4, while Mo Berete added a final three in the last moments.
Jamarion Butler finished as the leading scorer for the Panthers, pouring in 21 points. He also led the team with 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. Coby Farley added 17 points off the bench, making 6-11 from the field, including 3-6 from beyond the arc. Gus Napoleon scored 15 points, making 5-8 overall with 3-5 from three. Trey Davis was the final Panther to reach double figures, as he made 5-7 from the field to score 12 points. He also had 7 rebounds.
The Panthers record moves to 4-2 on the season after the win, with a 1-0 mark in AMCC play. They will be on the road this Saturday, as they take on Mount Aloysius in more AMCC action. The game is scheduled to start at 4:00 p.m.
