In men's basketball first round action, #3 Pitt-Greensburg defeated #6 Medaille College, while #5 Pitt-Bradford got the victory over #4 La Roche College. Pitt-Greensburg and Pitt-Bradford will both advance to the tournament semifinals at Hilbert College on Saturday afternoon.
Pitt-Greensburg 80, Medaille College 66
Behind strong play from the senior class, the Pitt-Greensburg men's basketball team captured an AMCC first round playoff victory over Medaille College, 80-66 on Wednesday night at Mount Aloysius College. The Bobcats outshot the Mavericks 47% to 33% in the first half, helping them take a 40-27 lead into the locker room at halftime. Medaille would cut the lead to nine points with a pair of free throws at the fifteen minute mark of the second half, but the Mavericks could draw no closer the rest of the way out. The Bobcat senior class accounted for 71 of the 80 points in the victory. Jerell Figueroa and Rocco Contristano led the way offensively with 22 and 20 points, respectively. Marcus Thomas had a game to remember, as he dropped 13 points (including his 1,000th career point) to go along with his 21 rebounds and 8 assists. Fellow senior Nick Anderson also contributed to the cause with 6 points.
Pitt-Bradford 67, La Roche 61
On Wednesday night, the fifth-seeded Panthers (12-14, 10-8) went on the road and upset fourth-seeded La Roche (12-14, 12-6), 67-61 in the AMCC championship quarterfinal round. The majority of the Redhawks success came in the first half as they opened the game on a 10-3 run, but the seven-point lead would be their biggest lead of the night. The Panthers responded with runs of their own, taking a four-point lead at the half. Pitt-Bradford and La Roche battled back and forth for the opening minutes of the second half, but it would be the Panthers who made the big shots when they counted most. The Redhawks got to within two at 59-57 with just four minutes left. However, Panther junior forward Evan Greening laid one in and junior guard Manny Welch buried a crucial long-range jumper to extend the Pitt-Bradford lead to 64-59 with just 2:20 left. La Roche sophomore forward Arnes Bajgora hit two free throws with 1:56 left, cutting the lead to 64-61. That would be as close as the Redhawks would get as Panther senior guard Eric Matheson went 3-4 from the charity stripe in the final minutes to secure the victory for the Panthers.
The AMCC men's basketball semifinals will take place at Hilbert College on Saturday afternoon. Pitt-Bradford will take on top seeded Hilbert College at 1pm, while Pitt-Greensburg will face Penn St. Behrend at 3:30pm.