Bradford, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's basketball continued their historic start to a season, as they went on the road to defeat Mont Aloysius 130-94 on Saturday afternoon.
The Panthers struggled to kickstart their offense in the game, committing a pair of turnovers on their first three possessions and fell behind when the hosts opened the scoring after a minute of play. Jamarion Butler quickly responded after the basket, scoring six unanswered points to give the Panthers an early lead. The hosts stayed within a possession of the Panthers until Xander Norris sank a three with 16 minutes left in the half. The Panthers maintained their lead until Mount Aloysius made a run, scoring 5 in a row to cut the advantage to one point.
Pitt-Bradford stayed in front with four free throws, a Jesse Laster layup, and a three from Braylen Salters before locking down at the 10-minute mark to begin a 17-3 run to take control of the game. Rodd Yarbrough started the run with a short jumper and then after a Salters free throw, Xavion Boone drove to the basket for a layup. Keshon Kittrell converted a pair of layups in a 9-second span before the Panthers answered a Mount Aloysius free throw with a Norris jumper and another Salters trey. Laster turned one more steal into two free throws to punctuate the run and give Pitt-Bradford a 44-26 lead.
The Panthers' offensive onslaught continued over the final 7 minutes of the half, as they tallied 26 more points to set a season-high output of 70 points in a half. Laster and Salters started the span with layups before Butler and Salters added two threes around a Mountie basket extending the lead to 21. The hosts scored five in a row, looking to seize momentum, however, Farley and Yarbrough made back-to-back layups and Nasier Starks added a free throw and a jump shot to push the advantage to 25. LAster made a free throw and a jumper around a three from Starks before Salters ended the half with a free throw, sending the game to the break with Pitt-Bradford leading 70-45.
Mount Aloysius started the second half off on the right foot, outscoring the Panthers 7-1 over the first 90 seconds before Norris made a three to kickstart the offense. This was followed by an old-fashioned three-point play by Salters and a pair of LAster free throws to restore the 25-point advantage. Kittrell added a three before Butler scored four straight and Starks converted a layup before a timeout at the 12:30 mark.
After a Braylen Salters jumper put Pitt-Bradford ahead 96-69, the Panthers began expanding their rotation. Kittrell made consecutive layups to break the 100-mark He added a few more points before being removed with 6:15 remaining in the game. Robert Richards entered the game for Pitt-Bradford and began to take over on the offensive end, scoring 8 of 10 Panther points, all on layups. In the final minutes, Tra Edwards made a three, Tommy Walton hit two from the line and Blake KRznaric made a putback layup to close the scoring at 130.
The Panthers had 6 players finish in double figures but were led by Jamarion Butler who scored a game-high 27. Freshman guard Braylen Salters registered his first career double-double, scoring 18 points on 6-10 shooting, while also dishing out 10 assists. Additionally, he gathered 45 rebounds and had 4 steals. Keshon Kittrell also had a double-double, finishing with 15 points, and 12 rebounds. He also added 6 assists and 8 steals. Xander Norris and Jesse Laster scored 16 and 12 points respectively, while Nasier Starks set a career-high with 10. As a team, the Panthers recorded their second-highest totals in points (130), turnovers forced (32), and assists (28).
The Panthers continue to extend their historic start and move to 16-1 on the season, with a 9-0 record in AMCC play. They will have a midweek bye, before returning to KOA Arena for a big matchup with La Roche. Tipoff is slated for 2:00 p.m. in KOA Arena.
