Bradford -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's basketball team won its second consecutive contest on a game-winning shot in the final seconds as a Coby Farley three led to a 70-68 win over Grove City on Friday evening.
The Panthers got off to an extremely slow start as the visitors were able to jump out to an 11-0 lead after 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Xavion Boone Roberson got the Panthers on the board and then Jamarion Butler converted a three-point play to cut further into the lead. The Wolverines responded with 8 unanswered points to extend their lead to 14 points. Farley immediately answered with a long three, starting a Pitt-Bradford rally that would whittle away the deficit.
The Farley three started a 20-2 run that saw the Panthers take a four-point lead. Farley added two more long balls against the Grove City zone, while Jamarion Butler added 5 from the line and Jesse Laster ended the run with a pair of baskets in the lane. After a timeout, the Wolverines slowed the rally with a free throw, but BJ Busbee added another three-pointer to put the Panthers ahead 28-22. The visitors were able to come back and take a short 1-point lead, but two more threes from Farley allowed Pitt-Bradford to take a 39-38 lead into the locker room at halftime.
After the break, the Panthers struggled to get restarted, as the visitors scored the first 4 points of the half to move back into the lead. Following two more free throws from Boone Roberson, the Panthers retook the lead with a Laster midrange jumper that would be the first of 11 lead changes in the second half. With 10 minutes to go, Grove City scored four straight to go ahead 55-51, but Pitt-Bradford quickly erased the lead and went back in front. Keshon Kittrell made a layup through contact and then Butler converted a three-point play on the following possession. The Wolverines responded with three of their own before Butler scored five in a row to keep Pitt-Bradford in front.
Tied at 64 with just under three minutes left on the clock, the Panthers seemed to take control, as Boone Roberson made a layup through contact and added a free throw to give Pitt-Bradford a 3-point edge. Grove City quickly cut the lead to one with a jumper, but neither team was able to score until the Wolverines sank a pair of free throws with 54 seconds remaining. On the ensuing possession, Farley found space for a three-point attempt, but could not get it to go. Luckily for the Panthers, Samuel Brown was able to grab a huge offensive rebound, giving the Panthers another chance to retake the lead. After both teams took timeouts to strategize, Butler was able to find space in the lane but kicked a pass out to Farley in the corner. Farley stepped into a shot and sank the three-point shot to give the Panthers a 70-68 lead. Grove City was able to take a shot in the final seconds to tie the game, but the effort fell short, ending the contest.
Jamarion Butler led the Panthers with 22 points, stepping up from the free-throw line, making 14 of 16. Along with the game-winner, Coby Farley made a total of 6 three-pointers, scoring 18 points off the bench. Xavion Roberson also reached double figures for the Panthers, scoring 11 points. Samuel Brown was only able to score 3 points for the Panthers, but stepped up in other areas, grabbing 8 rebounds, while also recording 3 steals and 3 blocked shots.
The Panthers move to 7-3 with the victory. They will be right back in action tomorrow, as they host Penn State-DuBois in their final game of 2023. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. in KOA Arena.
