Bradford, PA. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's basketball team hosted the Hilbert Hawks in the AMCC Game of the Week on Wednesday night. Despite leading early, the Panthers fell to the Hawks 76-71.
The visitors were able to get on board first, as they started the scoring with a four-point play after a foul on a made three. The Panthers quickly answered as JamarionButler kickstarted Pitt-Bradford with a three-point play of his own. The Panthers were able to keep up with the Hawks early and after Xavion Boone Roberson converted an and-one, Trey Davis made a three to give the Panthers their first lead of the game. After Hilbert went back ahead, Davis made another long ball to restore the lead and start a 7-0 run that saw the Panthers go ahead 20-14. Butler made another field goal in the lane, and then Gus Napoleon made a layup on the break to force a Hilbert time-out.
The Panthers' lead reached a high-water mark of 7 at the 8:38 mark when Mo Berete threw down a dunk. Hilbert quickly answered, scoring 7 straight to tie the game at 26. Jesse Laster made a three with 5 minutes left in the half to put the Panthers ahead by six, but the visitors responded once again, outscoring the Panthers 11-2 over the remainder of the period to take a 38-35 lead into the break.
Butler started the scoring in the second half, driving to the basket for a layup on the Panthers' opening possession starting a Panther rally that saw them eventually tie the game at 42 on a turnaround jumper from Napoleon. After the Hawks scored 6 straight, the Panthers battled back to get within one on a pair of Boone-Roberson free throws and a three from Laster. The Panthers were unable to take advantage of the momentum, as the visitors grabbed it right back and outscored Pitt-Bradford 11-2 over a four-minute stretch to build a 10-point lead with ten minutes remaining in the game.
Hilbert was able to maintain their 10-point edge for 5 minutes until the Panthers made a comeback push. Trailing by 9 with 4:51 to go, Butler converted a three-point play before Boone Roberson made a jumper to quickly cut the deficit to 4. Boone-Roberson added a pair of free throws to put Pitt-Bradford down two, but the Panthers were unable to come up with the big shot, and The Hawks made 6 unanswered from the line to push their advantage back to 8.
With one minute remaining the Panthers made a final push. Boone-Roberson drove to the basket for a layup with 45 seconds to go and then the Panthers forced a quick turnover, which Napoleon converted into a three from the left wing, putting the Panthers down 3 with 36 seconds remaining. On the ensuing possession, the Panthers attempted to trap the Hawks but were not able to force a turnover, eventually fouling Hilbert. The Hawks made two clutch free throws and then kept the Panthers from a quick shot to finish the game.
Jamarion Butler led all scorers in the game, as he finished with 28. HE made 8-14 from the field, gathered 6 rebounds, and tallied 3 assists and 3 steals. Jesse LAster scored 16 points in the loss, while also grabbing 6 rebounds. Freshman Xavion Boone Roberson also scored 16 points, making 5-8 from the field and adding 6 of 8 from the line. Trey Davis added 10 points off the bench.
The Panthers fall to 5-3 on the season with a 2-1 record in AMCC play. They will return to action on Saturday, December 9th, when they host LaRoche in another AMCC matchup. Tipoff is slated for approximately 4:00 p.m.
