Bradford, PA. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's basketball team ended their two-game slide on Wednesday night, as they overcame an early 12-point deficit to win their 10th game of the season 87-80 over Penn State-Altoona.
The Panthers made 1 of their first 7 field goal attempts, a Jamarion Butler three, over the first 4 minutes of play, but were able to limit the Lions to only 6 points of their own in the same stretch. Butler and Xavion Boone Roberson made back-to-back layups to give Pitt-Bradford their first lead of the game, but the Lions quickly scored four straight to retake the lead. The Panthers continued to struggle over the next five minutes and saw the Lion's lead grow to 12 points with 8:39 left in the half.
Following a Pitt-Bradford timeout, the Panthers were able to break through the Lion press and Mo Berete threw down a tomahawk dunk over a defender to start the Panther comeback. Keshon Kittrell hit a three on the next possession and then after a turnover, Butler raced to the basket for another one-handed slam. He made the ensuing free throw to complete the three-point play. The visitors maintained a 5-point cushion until a 10-2 run put the Panthers back in front. Butler converted another three-point play to start the run and then after a Penn State-Altoona jumper Gus Napoleon made a three to cut the lead to one. Butler added a layup and then an uncontested dunk to put Pitt-Bradford ahead by three. The Lions made a three on the following possession and then the teams exchanged free throws, sending the game to the break tied at 37.
Pitt-Bradford had another slow start in the second half, allowing the Lions to score the first six points after the break. Berete made a putback layup to put the Panthers on the board after two minutes before Boone Roberson cut the lead to two with a pair of free throws. The Lions once again maintained a 5-point lead until the 12-minute mark, when the Panthers were finally able to catch them. trailing by four, Berete made a layup and then blocked a layup on the next trip down the floor which was converted into a Butler layup, tying the game at 50. Pitt-Bradford got another stop after the layup, and then Napoleon put them back in front with a pull-up jumper. Coby Farley added another jumper before the visitors broke the streak with a jumper of their own.
Napoleon found his range from deep after the basket, making three straight threes for the Panthers, extending their advantage to six points. Berete added a putback layup and then after a tough jumper was made by Penn State-Altoona, Kirttel made another three. Butler converted a three-point play to push the lead into double-digits and then Berete grabbed another rebound on the offensive end and made a layup to put Pitt-Bradford ahead 74-61 with 6:25 to play.
Penn State-Altoona made a final run at the Panthers, scoring 7 quick, unanswered points, until Coby Farley slowed the rally with a driving layup. He then answered a quick three from the Lions with one of his own to keep the momentum from building any further. Down the stretch, Farley, Kittrell, and Butler all made a pair of free throws to secure the Panther win.
Jamarion Butler led all scorers with 23 points and also finished with 6 rebounds. Gus NApoleon scored 14 in the second half, making 5-11 from beyond the arc to finish with 21 points. Mo Berete provided a huge spark off the bench for Pitt-Bradford, scoring 15 points on 7-11 shooting, while collecting a team-high 9 rebounds. Coby Farley also reached double-figures, scoring 11 points, with all of them coming in the second half. He also registered 6 assists.
The Panthers move to 10-6 overall after the victory, with a 6-3 record in AMCC play. That puts them in a 4-way tie at the top of the conference standings. They will look to build momentum off the win over the weekend when they host Mount Aloysius on Saturday for another AMCC tilt. Tipoff is slated for 4:00 p.m. in KOA Arena.
