Pittsburgh, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's basketball team took on LaRoche on Saturday afternoon, kicking off a three-game road stretch with an 85-73 loss to the Redhawks.

Pitt-Bradford got on the board first, as Jamarion Butler drove to the basket for a layup on the game's opening possession. The hosts bounced right back, scoring 5 points on the next two possessions to take the lead. Gus Napoleon nailed a corner three to tie the game at 5, but the Redhawks followed with a 15-3 run over 4 minutes to open up a 12-point edge. Napoleon and Jesse LAster made layups on back-to-back possessions, and a few minutes later Coby Farley made threes on two straight trips down the floor to cut the lead to 6 points.

The Panthers were not able to hold onto the momentum for long, and the Redhawks pounced, once again scoring 5 straight. Over the final 8 minutes of the half, Pitt-Bradford was able to stay in shouting distance from the free throw line, as they only converted 2 field goals in the span. In the last 3 minutes of the 1st, the LaRoche scored 8 unanswered to extend their lead to 20 points until Farley made a layup on the Panthers' last possession of the half to send the game to the break with Pitt-Bradford trailing 47-29.

Pitt-Bradford came out of the gates firing to start the second half, as Mo Berete made a three to start the period and Farley answered an early LaRoche layup with one of his own and then a three-point play, cutting the lead to 12 in under 2 minutes. A Butler free throw temporarily got the deficit into single-digits, but it did not last long as the hosts made a three to push the lead back to 12 on the next possession. 

LaRoche kept their lead between 11 and 15 points for the next 6 minutes until the Panthers made two in a row to cut the lead to 8. Butler made a hustle play, beating a LaRoche player to an inbounds lob in the backcourt, resulting in an easy dunk. After a Panther stop, Farley made a second-chance layup to put the Panthers down 66-58 with 8:37 left. Over the final 8 minutes of play, the PAntehrs were never able to get closer than 8 points, as the hosts were able to answer every Panther basket with one of their own, keeping Pitt-Bradford at arm's length for the rest of the game.

 Coby Farley led all scorers in the game with 22 points. Jamarion Butler added 18 points, while also grabbing 5 rebounds. Jesse LAster efficiently scored 13 points, making 6-9 from the field. Samuel Brown led the Panthers in rebounding with 8 in 17 minutes of action.

Pitt-Bradford falls to 11-8 on the season, with a 7-5 record in AMCC play. They will be back on the road for their midweek game, as they travel to Hilbert, looking to avenge a 76-71 loss in December. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Hafner Recreation Center in Hamburg.