PANTHERS HOLD OFF TCNJ FOR PROGRAM'S FIRST NCAA TOURNAMENT VICTORY

The Pitt-Bradford men's basketball team held off a second-half TCNJ charge to defeat the Lions 98-96 in the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament victory.

Pitt-Bradford started quickly, outscoring the Lions 9-2 over the first three minutes of play. Jesse Laster and Jamarion Butler made early buckets inside and then after a TCNJ dunk, Jeremy Rodriguez made a three and Keshon Kittrell converted a layup. Xander Norris and Rodd Yarbrough each made shots from deep to keep the Panthers in front, but the Lions countered and whittled the lead down to two points. Laster stopped the run with a midrange jumper before Rodriguez made two from the line and Kittrell picked up a steal and a layup to restore the 8-point advantage.  

After the under-12 media timeout, the Panthers kept building momentum, scoring seven unanswered to push their lead into double-digits. Pitt-Bradford stayed hot from beyond the three-point arc, making three in a row to go ahead 37-22. The lead reached 18 points with 7:25 left in the half after another Rodriguez trey. The Panthers continued to answer baskets from the Lions, maintaining the lead before Yarbrough completed a three-point play to get the lead to its highest point at 19 with 3:15 remaining. In the final seconds of the half, Salters made a three giving the Panthers a 60-41 lead, but TCNJ made a final tip-in before the horn to send the game to halftime with Pitt-Bradford leading by 17. Pitt-Bradford shot 61.8% from the field in the half and made 9-15 from three. 

Butler opened the second half scoring for Pitt-Bradford with a three and following a TCNJ layup, Salters made one from the corner to keep the lead at 19. As hot as the Panthers in the first 20 minutes of play, they went just as cold after the Salters three, allowing TCNJ to score 13 unanswered over four minutes to cut the lead down to just six. Norris ended the rally with a second chance three with 13:08 to go. Yarbrough made consecutive layups to keep the Panthers in front through the middle four minutes of the half. 

With 10 minutes remaining, the Lions made their next rally, outscoring the Panthers 14-2 over three minutes to turn a nine-point deficit into a 78-75 lead. From that point, senior guard Coby Farley took over for Pitt-Bradford. he ended the rally with a midrange jumpshot and then with 4:35 to go, made a three from the top of the key to tie the game at 82. The Panthers got a stop on the next possession and then found Farley once again, who hit his patented floating jumpshot in the lane to put the Panthers back in front. Following the four-minute media timeout, Braylen Salters converted a three-point play on the break to put the Panthers ahead by five. 

Farley made another three with just under two minutes remaining to give Pitt-Bradford a 92-86 lead but TCNJ rallied behind their star player, Nick Koch, who made a layup and then a three after a Panther turnover, cutting the lead to one point. The Panthers ran the clock down and missed a layup with 40 seconds left, but Salters made a heads up defensive play in the Panthers press, stealing the pass after a rebound and quickly making a layup to extend the lead to three. 

On the ensuing Lion possession, Rodriguez intercepted a TCNJ pass and got the ball to Butler who was fouled and made both free throws, restoring the five-point edge. The Lions beat the press long for a quick layup and fouled Butler again, sending the forward to the line for one-and-one. Butler came up short on the first free throw, but Laster grabbed a huge rebound to keep the ball with the Panthers. After he was fouled, Laster made one of two from the line to put the Panthers ahead by four. TCNJ was not done yet, as Koch made a pull up three with five seconds remaining, cutting the lead to one. Pitt-Bradford was able to inbound the ball to Butler, who was fouled immediately. Butler made the first, but missed the second giving TCNJ one last heave for the win, which sailed out of play into the bleachers as the buzzer rang.

The Panthers used a balanced attack that had six players finish in double figures, and the bench outscoring the starting five 51-47. Salters was the leading scorer, making 7-10 from the field, including 3-5 from deep, to finish with 18 points. Rodriguez scored 16 points, making 5-6 from the field. Butler filled up the stat sheet for Pitt-Bradford, tallying 14 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and three steals in the win. Farley finished with 13 total points, including 10 in the second half. Yarbrough and Keshon Kittrell added 12 and 10 respectively. 

Along with advancing to the round of 32 for the first time in program history, the Panthers also set a new single-season wins record, moving to 24-3. In the second round, the Panthers will take on the hosts, Hampden-Sydney College, with a chance to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. Tipoff is set for 6:40 p.m. in Fleet Gymnasium.