By HUNTER O. LYLE
lyleoleanstar@gmail.com
BRADFORD, PA – As the final buzzer sounded, the Panthers gathered underneath the basket, elated in the feat they had just accomplished. One by one, they climbed the rungs of the ladder before cutting off a section of their home court net, celebrating their first Allegheny Mountain Collegiate College regular season championship in over two decades.
“This has been something that’s been a goal of mine since I was 18 years old. I played here, I was an assistant here,” said head coach Jesse DeLoof, who played with the Panthers from 2009 to 2013. “I’ve tried to do that 10 times and haven’t done it so it means a ton.”
The title came during the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford mens’ basketball teams’ final home stand, with the Panthers fending off the league runners up, Penn State Altoona, with 103-79 victory that secured the No. 1 seed and home court advantage through the playoffs.
Four days prior, however, the Panthers were not celebrating. Instead, they were processing their first AMCC loss of the season and second overall which came by the hands of Penn. State Behrend in Pitt-Bradford’s lowest scoring performance of the year.
“They imposed their will and forced the game to be their style of basketball,” said DeLoof, whose team only scored 62 points, nearly half of their season average. “It was simply that. We can’t play their style. They’re the best in the league at playing slow. If anyone told me they could hold us to 60 I’d say probably not.”
Coming in against PS Altoona, the Panthers were ready to get back to playing their brand of basketball. Setting the pace of the game early, Pitt-Bradford struck first as they jumped out to a lead. While scoring came via committee per their playbook, Jesse Laster carried the load early. Volunteering to be the team’s workhorse, the senior guard battled under the boards for numerous offensive rebounds and second chance points, scoring six of the Panthers’ first nine.
Using their full-court press, Pitt-Bradford held the Lions scoreless for stretches at a time, picking off outlet passes or forcing rushed shots in transition as they built a 19-8 advantage with 13 minutes to go. Although their efficiency would drop in the following few minutes, their lead would swell to 15 before PS Altoona finally responded with a run of their own. Starting with a stretch of five unanswered points, the Lions would close out the half by outscoring Pitt-Bradford 18-12 as they cut the deficit to single digits going into the break.
Jesse Laster soars for a slam dunk during the Panthers’ 103-79 win over Penn St.-Altoona. Laster ended with 22 points in the win. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
“I think we were in the lead at the half because 10 of our turnovers we forced were live ball ones. We need to capitalize on our steals,” said DeLoof, whose team came away with nine steals but only 11 points off turnovers. “I think we need to get to the hoop more from steals. It should be a straight line drive to the rim until somebody stops you. We were up nine and I thought we could have been up 18.”
The second half opened with a flurry of offense from both squads. For the Panthers, they kicked off the next 20 minutes of play with a barrage of 3-pointers from an array of shooters – in the first handful of minutes, Jeremy Rodriguez, Xavion Boone and Xavier Norris all knocked down shots from beyond the arc. However, while their offense came in hot, Pitt-Bradford’s defense struggled to contain the Lions.
Facing the Panthers’ full-court-press, PS Altoona found easy scores with long outlet passes that beat the final defender. As Pitt-Bradford struggled to protect the secondary, the Lions came away with consecutive fast break scores to keep themselves within striking distance.
The Panthers would finally break the back-and-forth battle with a 10-4 run, building their lead to 19 with 12 minutes left on the clock. Looking for the dagger, Pitt-Bradford would turn to Rodriguez. Slashing or spinning into the paint, fading out of the post and knocking down inside jumpers, Rodriguez would take control of the Panthers’ offense, scoring eight of their next 12 points.
Playing fast and efficiently, Pitt-Bradford looked unstoppable as they closed out the final minutes. Moving the ball with crisp passes that were only matched by timely teammate cuts, the Panthers finished with a 16-8 run that sealed their wire-to-wire momentous win. Along with a sweep of their closest rivals in the standings, Pitt-Bradford earned their first league regular season championship title since the 2001-2002 season.
“The ultimate goal is to win the league tournament but this is more than just hosting. Hosting will be really cool for Bradford and our fans and the university but a regular season championship is a championship,” said DeLoof. “(PS Altoona) is a really great team, they’re second in the league, but this just shows that if we play our style, we’re really tough to beat.”
Between Laster carrying the load in the first half and Rodriguez carrying it in the second, the duo combined for 45 points. Laster, who had recorded a double-double in the first half alone, ended with 22 points, 14 rebounds, three assists and two blocks and steals, while Rodriguez tallied 23 points and three rebounds. Jamarion Butler scored 15 points alongside six assists and five rebounds, followed by Keshon Kittrell with 14 points and six rebounds.
Pitt-Bradford had just one more game left in the regular season, a road game against Pitt-Greensburg on Saturday. However, their seeding for the upcoming AMCC tournament has already been set. Locking up the No. 1 spot with a win against the Lions, the Panthers will not only earn a bye through the first round, but will also host the entire tournament.
On Friday, Pitt-Bradford will play the winner of the No. 3/No. 6 matchup at 6 p.m. before the No. 2 seed – most likely PS Altoona – plays the winner of the No.4/No.5 game at 8 p.m. Then, the championship game will be played on Saturday.
Having notched wins, if not sweeps, over every team in the AMCC, DeLoof and the Panthers are ready to take on the competition, a thought that lends itself to dreams of a bid to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.
“If we play our game, we can beat anybody. If we play our style, we’re a very tough team to beat, for anybody,” said DeLoof. “We know that if we impose our will against teams, it’s going to take a very special team to beat us, and they’ll deserve to and we’ll tip our at that point. But we have to make games our style. Everyone knows that style and everyone knows what we’re trying to do but we have to just force them to play our way.”
Robert Richards cuts a section off the basketball net after Pitt-Bradford secured the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference regular season championship on Wednesday. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
