The Pitt-Bradford men's basketball team overcame a six-point halftime deficit to rally back late in the game and defeat the visiting La Roche Redhawks, 73-66, in the first round of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament.

Junior Tyler Fantaskey and sophomore Eric Matheson guided the Panthers in the scoring department with 17 points each. Fantaskey added three rebounds and one assist, while Matheson tacked on six rebounds and two assists. Junior Keith Burgess tallied 11 points, one rebound and one assist.

Freshman Zach Smith finished with 10 points and three rebounds. Junior Lucas Pichette capped a solid night in the paint with 10 rebounds to go with eight points.

Pitt-Bradford (16-10, 12-7) began the game out of sync with one another offensively and could not finish at the basket. As a result, the Redhawks grabbed a seven-point lead, 11-4, just a few minutes into the contest.

The lead remained in favor of the Redhawks as the clock ticked under 13 minutes to go in the first half. La Roche (14-12, 10-9) was clinging to a 15-9 lead after Andrew Flanigan put one in off the glass. Moments later, the Redhawks Neal McKown connected on a jumper and the Panthers were left searching for answers defensively.

With the clock hovering at the five minute mark, Pichette snagged a rebound and finished the put-back to cut the Panthers' deficit to 13 points.

It was Fantaskey's triple with 2:56 remaining that seemed to spark Pitt-Bradford's offense and rejuvenate the crowd. The bucket brought the deficit to single digits for the first time in over three minutes of play. Matheson hit back-to-back buckets to send the Panthers into the locker room trailing by just six points, 39-33.

The Panthers finished the first period shooting 46.7 percent from the field, including just 28.6 percent from three. They were three of five from the line.

The Redhawks shot 47.2 percent from the floor, including 42.9 percent from behind the arc. They were just two of four from the line.

La Roche controlled possession to begin the second half and immediately added a bucket on a Daron Tabron layup to extend the lead, 41-33. That bucket would be the end of the offensive dominance shown by the Redhawks.

The Panthers cut the lead to one point, 42-41, with 15:41 to play after Matheson drained one from just outside the paint. The one-point deficit became familiar to the Panthers as they trailed by one point, four times, over the next three minutes of play.

Burgess banked one in off the glass with just over 11 minutes to go that gave the Panthers their first lead of the half. The chess match began for both teams with ties and lead changes taking place every possession for the next several minutes.

With less than two minutes to go and the Panthers holding the edge over the Redhawks, senior Brandon McClester made a strong push to the basket and finished the layup to give the Panthers a lead they would not lose. McClester made two clutch free throws with 21 seconds left to ice the game and give the Panthers the comeback victory.

"That's a great win," said head coach Britt Moore. "We had to battle back against a very talented team. The playoffs become about guys making plays and we really stepped up tonight."

The Panthers finished the game shooting 52.7 percent, including 40 percent from three. They were a strong nine of 12 from the line.

The Redhawks shot 40.6 percent for the contest, including 29.4 percent from behind the arc. They were just nine of 18 from the line.

With the win, Pitt-Bradford advances to the second round of the AMCC Tournament. The Panthers travel to face Penn State Behrend on Friday, Feb. 28. Tipoff for the semi-final game is 6 p.m. in Erie, Pa.