By HUNTER O. LYLE
lyleoleanstar@gmail.com
BRADFORD, PA – Brushing off a shaky first 20 minutes of play, the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford mens’ basketball team tallied their 11th win of the season with a dominating second half, beating Carlow 124-101.
Returning to KOA Arena for the first time in the new year, the Panthers took to the court with confidence. Fresh off a 105-94 win over La Roche, the back-to-back Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference champions, Pitt-Bradford had been tested and passed.
“I didn’t think we played great, honestly. We found a way to win and if it’s a conference game on the road, obviously you’re never upset about that,” said Pitt-Bradford head coach Jesse DeLoof. “I think it does give guys confidence. No one in this locker room has won a conference championship so we’re not going to pretend we have and get ahead of ourselves, but whenever you go win games like that you start to think we can beat anybody.”
As usual, Pitt-Bradford opened the game by implementing their aggressive and energetic full-court-press and, per usual, their defensive efforts produced numerous steals off of double-team traps and intercepted passes. Early on, the Panthers would spark a 11-2 run that put them up by double digits with 15 minutes to go.
However, from there their offense would sputter to a crawl. Shots stopped falling, turnovers started appearing and their defense failed to stop long outlet passes that found Celtic players under the basket. While they searched for answers as well as better looks at the basket, Carlow caught up, scoring at a 13-5 clip that brought them to within five with nine minutes left in the half.
The Panthers’ inconsistency came to a head around the six minute mark, when a Celtics triple gave them their first lead of the game.
“I thought we missed so many opportunities to score. I always think, whenever we get a lead to nine or 11, if we’re going to be really good we need to balloon it up to 20,” said DeLoof. “We need to sense blood in the water and go and balloon that up.”
Shying away from jumpers and instead forcing drives into the paint, Pitt-Bradford found some life as they retook the lead. However, the Celtics managed to continue to find gaps in the defense, answering each Panther score with one of their own.
Up by just three with only four minutes remaining, Pitt-Bradford settled into a rhythm. Starting with two scores from Braylen Salters and Jamarion Butler – the latter coming as a steal and slam – the Panthers opened up their offense for 11 unanswered points. Still, Carlow remained close by.
Constantly attacking the rim had earned the Celtics a spot in the bonus and in the final moments of the half, Carlow exploited that advantage. In the last minute, they forced their way to the charity stripe three times while also managing to chip away at the deficit with head-down drives to the basket. Carlow would cut the lead to single digits with a made 3-pointer as the halftime buzzer sounded.
“Defensively in the halfcourt, we just weren’t talking. There wasn’t enough communication. Guys need to have a sense where if we get stops in the halfcourt, we’re probably going to go score,” said DeLoof. “We need to find areas where we can take another step up the ladder, whether that’s getting better communication on defense or cutting back on turnovers, we need to as a group find a couple things, low hanging fruit if you will, to take that next step.”
In the second half, the Panthers would be determined to not make the same mistakes. Opening the period with a made jumper from Xander Norris and a triple from Salters, Pitt-Bradford reclaimed the momentum immediately. Using a diverse attack from both inside and out, coupled with an ever-present full-court-press, the Panthers kept a double-digit margin on the scoreboard.
Rodd Yarbrough throws down a dunk for the Panthers on their way to win No. 11. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
After surviving an initial tick-for-tack wave of offense from the Celtics, Pitt-Bradford would score 13 unanswered points, sealing the lead for good. After three consecutive steal-and-scores, their lead would grow to 20 with 11 minutes still left on the clock before bloating to 30 less than four minutes later. Between cleaning the offensive glass to protecting their own with numerous echoing pin-up blocks, everything was working for the Panthers coming down the stretch.
“Part of (sealing the win) was finding a good lineup and trying to keep them out there. The way we play, we have to be able to sub. Sometimes the first group will get (up by) nine or 11 and then you sub them and your next group isn’t ready to go,” said DeLoof. “It takes everybody and in the second half we did that.”
As they rotated in their reserves off the bench, Pitt-Bradford cruised to their second 120-plus-point game of the season and fourth AMCC win, retaining their spot atop the conference. Carlow, on the other hand, fell to 1-2 in the AMCC and 2-9 overall.
Coming off the bench for 23 minutes of play, Jeremy Rodriguez led the Panthers in scoring with 23 points, also recording three rebounds, two assists and three steals. Salters scored 18 with four assists and four steals while both Butler and Norris tallied 16 points.
Halfway through the season, Pitt-Bradford is in the midst of their best season in recent memory. However, while being proud and optimistic about the 12 games ahead of them, DeLoof knows there’s still work to be done.
“We have all the pieces. I’m just ready for us to hit a stride with playing every Wednesday, playing every Saturday, practicing two days a week, kids back on campus and then getting into a routine,” said DeLoof. “Over the next six weeks we need to go submarine mode and just focus in on us getting better. We have everything we need to do that.”
