Bradford, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's basketball team erased a 10-point 2nd half deficit against Penn State-Altoona to secure the program's third ever AMCC Tournament Championship and its first since 2002-03. The Panthers outscored the visitors 12-3 over the last five minutes of play to win the game 92-90.
The visitors scored directly after the opening tip, however, the Panther offense quickly took over, scoring 8 straight points on their first three possessions. Keshon Kittrell opened the scoring with a three, and then after Jeremy Rodriguez stole the ball in the back court and converted it into a layup, Kittrell found Laster in the corner for another three, putting Pitt-Bradford ahead 8-2 after 90 seconds. Penn State-Altoona ended the run and grabbed the momentum, outscoring the Panthers 9-2 over the next minute and a half to go back in front. They pushed their lead to 3, but Xander Norris hit a three to tie the game at 15.
The Lions took another one-possession lead on a layup, however, the Panthers quickly answered with a Kittrell layup and then regained the lead on another Laster three. The senior wing stayed hot from beyond the arc over the next few minutes, answering Lion runs with two more long balls, that kept the Panthers ahead 28-25 with 9:15 left in the half. Pitt-Bradford stayed in front for the next 5 minutes, and even extended the lead to 5 after a pair of Laster free throws were followed by a Jamarion Butler jumpshot. The lead would not last, and the visitors quickly erased it and regained the lead with a 6-0 lead. Over the final 2 minutes, the teams swapped baskets and exchanged the lead 5 times resulting in a 47-46 Penn State-Altoona lead at halftime.
Pitt-Bradford started the second half on the front foot, scoring the first four points after the break. Butler made a midrange jumper to start the half and then Kittrell picked up a steal and a layup to put the Panthers ahead 50-47. The Lions stepped up their defense after the Kittrell basket, and rode the shift of momentum to a 9-0 lead which put them ahead by seven. Rodd Yarbrough ended the rally with a three-point play and then the Panthers cut the lead to 3 with a Butler layup and a free throw from Rodriguez. The visitors were able to rebuff the Panther charge and extend their advantage to 10 points.
With 10:23 remaining, Coby Farley jump started the Panther comeback. He made a running jumpshot in the lane and then after a Laster steal, made a three to cut the lead in half after just 11 seconds. The Lions slowed the rally with a putback layup, but Farley found Braylen Salters for a three and then Rodd Yarbrough hit two free throws to cut the deficit to two. After a Lion three, Farley made another jump shot but his effort was followed by a 6-1 run to push their lead back to 8. Salters answered four Penn State-Altoona points with a stepback three and a fall away jumpshot, however, the Lions made one additional layup to go ahead 87-80 and set up a thrilling finish.
Laster drew a foul and converted both free throws and then Salters picked up a steal in the backcourt and found Butler for a layup, trimming the deficit to three. Pitt-Bradford locked down defensively over the next three minutes, allowing just one free throw and a layup, while Butler made four free throws, to put the Panthers behind 90-88 with 3 minutes left. Yarbrough answered the basket with a reverse layup, tying the game and forcing a Penn State-Altoona time out. Both defenses stepped up for the next five possessions until Yarbrough found Kittrell for a layup to put the Panthers in front.
Ahead by two and on defense, the Panthers extended their defense and forced Penn State-Altoona into two timeouts as they could not penetrate the defensive shell and move towards the basket. With the shot clock running out, the visitors took a long three which missed the target, but was collected by the offense. Chaos ensued over the following 5 seconds as the Lions missed and rebounded three shots in the paint before the buzzer rang to cue the Pitt-Bradford celebration.
Jesse Laster led the Panthers in the win with 20 points. He was 5-11 from the field, including 4-6 from beyond the arc while also hitting all six free throws he attempted. He also had 3 rebounds and 4 steals. Jamarion Butler added 16 points, while leading the team with 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Rodd Yarbrough and Braylen Salters each scored 12 points off the bench, while Keshon Kittrell finished with 11 points, including the game winning basket.
After the game, Butler and Laster were named to the All-Tournament team. Over two games, Butler averaged 17.5 points and 5.5 rebounds. His classmate Laster scored 14.5 points per game and also tallied 7 total steals.
The win not only clinched the Conference championship for the first time in 22 years, but also moved their record to 23-3, tying the program record for wins in a season. The tournament championship also comes with the AMCC's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. They will find out their opponent and regional host site on Monday, March 3rd during the NCAA's Selection Show, which will be broadcast on their website.
