Pittsburgh, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's basketball team was unable to take advantage of late defensive stops, as they fell 77-72 to the LaRoche Redhawks on Saturday afternoon.
The Panthers fell behind right away as the hosts quickly scored the first five points of the game. Phillip Wallace was able to get the Panthers on the board at the 17-minute mark, as he converted a layup after a Caden Beldin steal. The Redhawks responded with a three before Wallace scored 5 straight points on a layup from the post and a three on the break to cut the lead to one. Following a LaRoche jumper, Lennon Lindholm tied the game at 10 with a long three. One possession later, Nathan Schneider was able to hit from beyond the arc to give the Panthers their first lead of the game at 13-12. The RedHawks quickly regained the lead and two possessions later.
The Panthers stayed within a possession of the hosts for the next few minutes of play, but they were limited to a pair of Schneider free throws for a four-minute stretch, which allowed LaRoche to build a 9-point lead at 30-21. Nathan Schneider ended the skid with a driving layup and then made a short-range jumper on the next possession to cut the lead to 5. After a timeout, Jeremy Rodriguez answered a LARoche basket with four straight free throws to continue the Panthers' comeback. Over the last three minutes, B.J. Williams made a three and a pair of free throws to send the game to halftime with the Panthers trialing 36-38.
Caden Beldin started the 2nd half with two early layups to tie the game, and Lindholm made another three to give the Panthers their first lead in sixteen minutes of game time. The Panthers maintained the lead over the next six minutes as they were able to answer LaRoche baskets through threes by Wallace and Gus Napoleon and four points from Schneider. Following a driving layup from Napoleon with 11:21 on the clock, the Redhawks went on a 7-0 run to turn the three-point deficit into a 5-point lead. The Panthers were able to stop the rally with a timeout, and then six quick points in the paint from Wallace, Schneider, and Rodriguez put the Panthers up 61-60. The teams went on to exchange the lead five times and tie each other three times over the next five minutes to set up a tight finish.
After a Rodriguez free throw gave the Panthers a 70-69 lead with 3:26 to go, the Panthers were able to get defensive stops on back-to-back possessions but were unable to take advantage and increase their lead. LaRoche rettok the lead on a fast break layup with 2:23 to go and then increased their lead to three after a pair of free throws just inside the two-minute mark. Following a turnover on the offensive end, the Panthers were unable to control a defensive rebound after forcing two LaRoche misses but used a traveling violation to get the ball back with 25 seconds remaining. Unfortunately, the Panthers once again could not capitalize on the turnover, as they were forced into one of their own. LaRoche made 4 of 4 free throws in the final seconds to maintain their lead and win the game.
Nathan Schneider led all scorers with 24 points. he made 8-13 from the field, 1-2 from three, and 7-8 from the line. He also added 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Phillip Wallace also reached double figures, scoring 14 points in the game. He also led the Panthers with 6 rebounds. Gus Napoleon was highly efficient off the bench, scoring 11 points on 5-7 shooting with 4 rebounds.
The loss drops the Panthers to 9-10 on the season with a 3-5 record in AMCC play. They will return to KOA Arena next week for a pair of AMCC matchups. In their midweek matchup, they will take on Alfred State followed by a weekend tilt against Mount Aloysius. Tipoff for the Alfred State game is slated for 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
