Ryan Race’s journey to 1,000 points was more of a marathon than
a sprint.

Overcoming an injury-plagued career, Race became the 17th
Pitt-Bradford men’s basketball player to reach the plateau in a
75-63 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference victory over Penn
State Altoona at the Sport & Fitness Center on Wednesday.

“He (Race) has had an ankle problem and still isn’t 100
percent,” said Andy Moore, Pitt-Bradford head coach. “He’s a rhythm
shooter and he’s still trying to get his timing back. He had a
problem with the same ankle last year.”

Needing only one point for the milestone, the 6-3 senior forward
from Bradford made the crowd wait, including four side-by-side
students on the far side of the gym with the numbers
one-zero-zero-zero painted on their respective bare chests.

Race’s initial shot of game was an unsuccessful tip-in with 3:27
left in the first half, but then he brought the fans to their feet
with a 13-foot turnaround jumper from the right side of the lane to
give the Panthers a 40-26 lead with 1:40 showing before the
intermission.

“I give him (Race) credit tonight for playing within himself and
not forcing anything,” Moore noted. “He showed great patience
tonight. He’s gutting it out and he’s just happy we are
winning.”

Race only scored four points on the night, but got plenty of
assistance from the other four starters as Jon Hannon had 21 points
on 9-for-11 from the field, Shawn Spindler registered 19 points,
Dan Thomas contributed 15 points and Aaron Stang added 10
points.

“Seems like every game we’ve had three or four guys in double
figures,” Moore stated. “That’s going to be a key for us.”

The Panthers (6-2, 3-0) never trailed in their sixth straight
victory as the hosts opened a 44-28 halftime margin on 63 percent
shooting (17-for-27) from the floor.

“We got to the basket and I was happy the way we played in the
first half,” Moore declared. “In the second half we had an 18-point
lead and just couldn’t put them (Lions) away.”

A bucket by Hannon presented Pitt-Bradford with its largest
bulge of the night at 48-30 with 18:45 remaining, but the Lions
(1-5, 1-2) went on a 13-2 run to cut their deficit to 50-43 with
12:23 left.

Thomas responded with a jumper and Spindler followed with a
three-pointer as the Panthers’ lead wavered between eight and 16
points the rest of the contest.

Tyler Franklin led Altoona with 30 points on 12-for-14 from the
floor.

“He (Franklin) is tough,” Moore admitted. “He has that little
one-handed shot going to his right and he’s tough to stop.”

Pitt-Bradford will host Mount Aloysius College on Saturday (6
p.m.).