BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Pitt-Bradford men's basketball team registered its fourth straight victory, all over Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference foes, with a 71-66 win over the D'Youville Spartans on Wednesday.
Junior Eric Matheson led all Panthers on the floor with 19 points for the night. He added six rebounds and two assists to his totals. Senior Keith Burgess was close behind with 18 points, six rebounds and two assists.
Sophomore Zach Smith tallied 17 points and nine rebounds, one shy of a double-double. He added two assists as well. Senior Lucas Pichette was a force under the basket and racked up a total of 11 rebounds. Pichette also finished with four points and one steal.
Pitt-Bradford (8-6, 5-2) buried the Spartans in the rebound column, finishing the night with a total of 51 compared to the Spartans' 36. D'Youville (4-11, 2-6) maintained strong possession of the ball throughout the evening, committing just eight turnovers to the Panthers' 11, but its play on the boards cost it the victory in the end.
The Panthers got on the board first with back-to-back free throws from Pichette. D'Youville tied it up quickly with a layup and the two squads took turns exchanging buckets for the next several minutes.
Pitt-Bradford managed to make a run midway through the first half that built an 11-point lead off a Manny Welch three pointer at the 8:45 mark. The Spartans came roaring back however, and cut the deficit to one point with 2:17 to play.
Several possessions and baskets later and the Panthers found themselves trailing at intermission, 34-32. Pitt-Bradford shot 27.8 percent from the floor in the first period, while D'Youville finished the first twenty minutes shooting 32.3 percent.
The second half presented much of the same action as the first. Pitt-Bradford went on a small run late in the period and stacked up an eight point lead with 3:27 to play. The Spartans found an answer yet again and cut it to one with just over a minute and a half in regulation.
The Panthers were able to keep the ball out of the Spartans hands in the final minute and were successful at the free-throw line to preserve a big conference win on the road that has them racing into a home showdown this weekend.
For the game, Pitt-Bradford shot just 29 percent, but was a whopping 29-of-34 from the stripe. D'Youville finished its night shooting 38.1 percent, including 16-of-20 from the line.
The La Roche Redhawks come to the KOA Arena on Saturday, Jan. 17. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. as the Panthers try to make it five in a row in conference play in front of the home crowd.