BRADFORD, Pa. – The Pitt-Bradford men's basketball team came away with a close one as it went on to outlast D'Youville College, 76-73.

Pitt-Bradford (12-10, 9-6) had four of its five starters reach double-digit scoring. Leading the offense for the Panthers was sophomore Zach Smith (Smethport/Smethport) who tallied 22 points, senior Keith Burgess (Hillside, NJ/Hillside) with 15, junior Eric Matheson (Ridgway/Ridgway) with 14 and senior Lucas Pichette (North Tonawanda, NY/North Tonawanda) with 10.

D'Youville was led offensively by Jon Gemerek who contributed 20 points in the loss for the Spartans.

The Panthers started the game in a close contest with the Spartans keeping with them the whole way throughout the first half. Both teams played with high energy, not letting either side grab hold of a big lead.

The Panthers were able to keep it close in the first half despite their struggles from the field. Pitt-Bradford only shot 38.2% from the field and only were down 36-32 going into the locker room.

The second half started with D'Youville taking an early lead. The Spartans were able to come out and put an early run together, which allowed them to go up 53-41 with 12:09 remaining.

The Panthers would battle back, though, and would cut the game down to one point after a pair of free throws from Matheson with 8:28 remaining.

The game became a heavy-weight fight from that point on with both teams exchanging blows trip after trip down the floor. The Spartans and Panthers found themselves tied at 69 with 2:10 remaining in the contest.

The Panthers were able to convert from the free-throw line shooting 84.6% against the Spartans, 78.9%. This stat would prove to be the deciding factor as the Panthers won the battle from the line and were able to outlast D'Youville, 76-73.

Pitt-Bradford head coach Britt Moore said, "Good win at home where we had to execute down the stretch. Some guys made some big plays and free throws to seal it."

Pitt-Bradford will travel to La Roche College Saturday February 14, at 3 p.m.