The Pitt-Bradford men’s basketball team will return to the scene
of the crime following a 77-63 victory over Pitt-Greensburg in the
first round of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference
playoffs at the Sport & Fitness Center on Tuesday.
The win allowed the Panthers to punch their ticket for Friday’s
semifinals at Medaille College, where Pitt-Bradford dropped an
82-71 decision to Medaille in last year’s AMCC title game.
The Panthers (16-10) will play in the 8 p.m. contest against
third-seeded Penn State Behrend (19-7), who swept Pitt-Bradford
this season.
“We played very poorly against Behrend in both games,” said Andy
Moore, Pitt-Bradford head coach. “Behrend shot it well in both
games, and we shot it bad and played bad.”
The game against Greensburg was tighter than Spandex on a sumo
wrestler as the visitors enjoyed a 9-8 lead with 12:50 left in the
first half, but a bucket by Jerusalem Strickland gave the Panthers
an irreversible 10-9 advantage.
“We couldn’t pull away in the first half, and we had a few
defensive breakdowns,” coach Moore recalled.
Pitt-Bradford led 40-31 at the intermission and then opened a
45-33 margin on a layup by Zach Moore with 18:25 remaining.
The Bobcats (12-14) were still hanging around at 57-48 when an
8-0 run, which was highlighted by a one-hand dunk from Zach Moore,
presented the Panthers with a comfortable 65-48 bulge with 4:46
showing.
Zach Moore led all scorers with 22 points, Strickland
contributed 15 points on 7-for-10 from the floor and Mike Ridge
added 12 points on 6-for-7 from the field for Pitt-Bradford.
“Zach (Moore) shot it well tonight and he’s getting back into
the groove after his injury,” coach Moore stated. “We need him to
play like that.”
“I thought we played better defense in the second half,” coach
Moore continued. We were playing with a sense of urgency tonight
because it’s one-and-done if you don’t.”
PITT-GREENSBURG (63)
Founds 0-1 1-2 1, Davison 5-9 4-4 16, Hampton 8-19 1-2 17,
Palmer 6-11 2-4 14, Kucenic 3-12 0-0 6, Hryn 1-2 0-0 2, Bigante 1-3
0-0 2, Patcher 1-1 0-1 2, Burgess 1-1 1-2 3, Totals 26-60 9-15
63
PITT-BRADFORD (77)
S. Moore 2-6 4-5 8, VanDeusen 3-8 2-2 8, Heisey 1-4 0-0 2,
Strickland 7-10 1-1 15, Z. Moore 7-16 4-6 22, Buyea 0-0 1-2 1,
Dekmar 0-0 1-2 1, Deloof 1-1 0-0 2, Stang 0-1 2-2 2, Ridge 6-7 0-0
12, Coppola 2-4 0-0 4, Totals 29-60 15-20 77
Halftime: UPB 40-31
Three-point FGs: UPG – Davison 2; UPB – Z. Moore 4
LADY PANTHERS WIN
GREENSBURG — The seventh-seeded Pitt-Bradford women’s basketball
team knocked off No. 2 Pitt-Greensburg 74-63 in the first round of
the AMCC playoffs Tuesday.
The 10-16 Lady Panthers shot a blistering 59.6 percent
(28-for-47) from field in advancing to face third-seeded Frostburg
State in the semifinals at Medaille College on Friday (3 p.m.).
“We shot the lights out and really took it to them,” said Brian
Sansom, Pitt-Bradford head coach. “Our kids kept fighting and now
we’ll see what happens on Friday.”
Pitt-Bradford never trailed in the contest and jumped out to a
21-9 lead en route to a 34-22 halftime margin.
The Lady Panthers opened the second half on a 6-0 run and
cruised to the victory.
Hollie Rapp was 8-for-11 from the floor for 18 points and also
had nine rebounds, Maria Costanza had 14 points and six assists,
Danielle Zeamer had 10 points and five assists, and Ashley
Seidenstricker had 10 points for Pitt-Bradford. Kelsey Wilcox led
Greensburg (17-9) with 17 points and 13 boards.
PITT-BRADFORD (74)
Zeamer 3-5 4-8 10, Seidenstricker 2-4 5-6 10, Cline 3-5 0-0 6,
Costanza 5-14 2-5 14, Rapp 8-11 1-3 18, Dalton 2-2 0-0 6, Lubi 1-1
0-0 2, Jordan 4-4 0-0 8, Totals 28-47 12-22 74
PITT-GREENSBURG (63)
Gwosden 3-9 2-2 9, Littler 1-4 1-2 3, Sheaffer 4-11 1-2 10,
Stanton 3-13 4-5 10, Wilcox 5-18 7-9 17, Mueseler 5-9 0-0 14,
Totals 21-65 15-20 63
Halftime: UPB 34-22
Three-point FGs: UPB – Costanza 2, Dalton 2, Seidenstricker 1,
Rapp 1; UPG – Mueseler 4, Gwosden 1, Sheaffer 1
