Hamburg, N.Y. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's basketball team used every bit of three overtime periods to escape an upset bid at Hilbert on Wednesday night. The Panthers used clutch baskets in the final ten seconds of regulation, and the first two overtime periods to extend the game. They were ultimately victorious in the third, winning 132-125.
Pitt-Bradford started the contest off on fire, scoring on seven of their first eight possessions. Jesse Laster made three free throws and a dunk in the stretch, while Jamarion Butler scored 4 and Braylen Salters and Keshon Kittrell each hit threes. Jeremy Rodriguez put an exclamation point on the run, converting a three-point play to put the Panthers ahead 18-11. A few minutes later, Xander Norris drained a three and LAster added a layup on the break to extend the Pitt-Bradford advantage to 12 with 11:10 remaining in the half.
Butler made back-to-back layups at the 9-minute mark to put the Panthers ahead by 16, but the buckets were followed by a long Panther dry spell, which allowed the hosts to get back into the game. Hilbert limited the Panthers to 4 points over the next 8 minutes of play to completely erase the lead and go ahead with two free throws with 1:15 remaining in the half. In the final 75 seconds of the 1st, the Panthers responded and outscored the Hawks 8-2 to take a 47-42 lead into the break.
Boone opened the 2nd half with a layup, but his basket was followed by a Hawk run that saw the hosts score 10 of 12 points to take a 52-51 lead after two and a half minutes. The Hilbert advantage was short-lived as Pitt-Bradford came right back, scoring the next 8 points to go back ahead. Salters started the rally with three the hard way and then Norris and Rodriguez each added layups. Despite a layup and a free throw by the Hawks, the Panther run continued, as Laster scored four straight and Rodriguez hit another jumper, pushing the lead to 13 with 11:32 left.
Halfway through the 2nd, Hilbert began another push by scoring 7 straight before eventually cutting the Panther lead down to three points in just over 2-minutes of action. Norris held off the run with a three, but Hilbert went on to tie the game at 80 with a long ball of their own. The Panthers pushed back in front with two Salters free throws and a Norris jumper, but they could not put the game away, allowing the hosts to come back and take an 88-87 lead with 1:46 on the clock. After Xander Norris made two from the line, Hilbert converted a three-point play to go ahead by 2 with 54 seconds to play. The Panthers missed their first opportunity to tie, but forced a turnover to get the ball back one final time. In the final 30 seconds, Pitt-Bradford missed three shots, but got three offensive rebounds, with Laster tipping home the final rebound to tie the game at 91 and send it into overtime.
Hilbert struck first in the extra period, hitting an early three, but after an exchange of baskets, Norris made a three of his own to tie the game back up at 96. The Hawks scored the next 5 points, making three free throws and then a layup until Rodriguez kept the Panthers in the game with a three. A free throw pushed the deficit to three with 1:20 left, but the Panthers struck again on the second chance by using two more offensive rebounds before Rodriguez sank another long ball to tie the game at 102. The situation seemed dire for the Panthers in the final seconds as Salters was called for a foul that resulted in two made free throws for the Hawks. After an attempted game-tying layup was blocked out of bounds with less than a second don't the clock, a lobbed inbound attempt seemed to bounce away unsuccessfully, however a foul was called, giving Pitt-Bradford a chance to extend the game once again. Laster stepped up to the line and sank two clutch free throws to push the game into a 2nd overtime.
The hosts took the momentum right back in the 2nd extra period, scoring the first 7 points to take a 111-104 lead. A Rodriguez jump shot got the Panthers on the board in OT2, but after 4:18 of the session, Pitt-Bradford still trailed by six, without the ball. The Panther's high-pressure defense paid off once more, and they turned the Hawks over twice in 13 seconds, converting the steals into a Rodriguez tip-in and three free throws after the guard was fouled beyond the arc. Hilbert pushed their lead back to three with two from the stripe, however, Rodriguez wasn't through yet, hitting a pull-up three with 11 seconds remaining to tie the score at 114. Hilbert did carve out a last-second shot to win the game, but it bounced off the front rim and Rodriguez controlled the rebound, extending the game to its third bonus period.
The Panthers were finally able to start one of the overtimes on the right foot, as after an exchange of early baskets, Coby Farley made a three and Rodriguez added a short jumper to give Pitt-Bradford a 121-116 lead. Following a Hawk layup, Rodriguez went off, pulling up for two jump shots and then making five of six free throws to help put the game away. Laster made two final free throws before Hilbert closed the game with an uncontested layup to put the final tally at 132-125 in favor of the Panthers.
Jeremy Rodriguez set a career-high with 39 points. It is the most a Panther has scored in a game this season, and the highest total since now-assistant coach Nathan Schneider scored 41 in the 2022-23 season-opener. He also recorded his first career double-double, grabbing 10 rebounds. Jamarion Butler also finished with a double-double, scoring 20 points to go along with 10 rebounds and 6 assists. Xander Norris scored 21 points off the bench, while Jesse Laster finished with 17 points and 17 rebounds. Braylen Salters and Xavion Boone also got into double figures, scoring 14 and 10 points respectively.
The Panthers continue their historic season and move to 18-1 overall, and 11-0 in AMCC play. They will be back on the road this Saturday when they head to Pittsburgh to take on Carlow. Tipoff is set for 2:00 p.m.
