Tiffin, Oh. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's basketball team was back in action on Friday night, as they traveled to Heidelberg University to play in the Ron Linhart Memorial Classic. The Panthers took on the Olivet Comets in their first game in Ohio, falling 109-71.

The Panthers were able to whittle a 16-point 1st half lead back to just 9 at the break, but were unable to keep pace in the 2nd half, as the Comets scored 60 in the period, shooting 56.1% from the field and making 12 threes. 

The Panthers fell behind immediately, as Olivet scored 7 points on their first three possessions before Caden Beldin opened the scoring for Pitt-Bradford with a jumper at 18:37. The Comets responded with a three and quickly pushed their advantage into double digits at the 16:05 mark. Nathan Schneider scored 5 straight for the Panthers after a timeout, but Olivet was able to answer and respond, quickly negating the Schneider run and increasing their lead to 16. With 4:04 left in the half, Lennon Lindholm hit a three and then Schneider followed with a jumper to cut the deficit to 11. Following a pair of Olivet free throws, Lindholm added another long ball and Schneider converted a pair of free throws to get the lead to 9. After the Comets pushed the lead back to 12, Jeremy Rodriguez hit a three in the final minute of the half to send the game to the break with the Panthers down 49-40.

Schneider hit the first basket of the 2nd half to further cut the deficit to 7, but Olivet quickly hit two threes and a layup to push their advantage back to 15 points. a Gavyn Mason bucket and two free throws from Jordan Sommers kept the deficit at 14, but it would not last long, as Olivet caught fire and quickly extended their lead over 20 points, where it stayed for the remainder of the contest. Nathan Nootbaar scored 6 straight for the Panthers, finishing with a layup at the 6:27 mark, but Pitt-Bradford was only able to muster a Mason layup over the final 6 minutes of play as Olivet closed on an 18-2 run.

Nathan Schneider led the way with 16 points and 7 rebounds for the Panthers. Phillip Wallace added 13 points and 3 assists. Caden Beldin and Lennon Lindholm each scored 8 points on 3-6 shooting and 2-3 from beyond the arc. Lindholm and Gavyn Mason both added 5 rebounds.

The Panthers fall to 1-1 with the loss. They will be right back in action tomorrow afternoon, as they will take on Wisconsin-Whitewater in their second game of the Linhart Classic. Tipoff is slated for 2:00 p.m.