Men's Basketball falls in overtime thriller to Penn State Behrend, 71-68
Box Score
Greensburg, PA: Pitt-Greensburg men's basketball lost in an overtime thriller Saturday evening to Penn State Behrend, 71-68.
The Bobcats (2-2, 0-2 AMCC) played Penn State Behrend (4-1, 2-0) even for 60 minutes and needed a 5 minute overtime period to decide the game.
In a matchup of reigning co-AMCC players of the year,
David Palmer (Pittsburgh, PA, Westinghouse)and Russ Conley, this game lived up to the hype and proved to be a matchup of two very similar squads.
UPG held a 1 point lead over the AMCC pre-season favorites of Penn State Behrend at the half, 31-30. Both teams matched one another shot for shot. Behrend relied on the strong 3 point shooting from guards Nick DeLisio and Casey Courneen but Bobcats
Brock Witkowski (Marble, PA, Keystone) and
Mike Connelly (Butler, PA, St. Joesephs) answered the bell, each knocking down 3 three-pointers on the day.
In the second half, Palmer and Conley took over for their respective teams and each delivered quite the performance. Conley finished the day with 23 points and 8 rebounds while Palmer countered with 22 points and 12 rebounds.
The play of the game for the Bobcats came with less than 10 seconds remaining in regulation and trailing by 3 points. After a missed Palmer layup, Mike Connelly came streaking underneath the basket to grab the offensive rebound and kick it out to an open Brock Witkowski. Witkowski knocked down his third, 3 pointer of the day, tieing the score and bringing the home crowd to its feet. The game was sent to overtime after a missed Behrend 3 point attempt at the buzzer.
In overtime, UPG trailed by 4 until
Brian Heinle (Brackenridge, PA, St. Joesephs) knocked down a huge 3 pointer of his own to bring the Bobcats within one with only 27 seconds remaining in overtime. After a pair of Behrend free throws, UPG had one last chance to tie the game but a 3 pointer by Witkowski at the buzzer fell short.
It was a tough loss for the Bobcats, who drop to 0-2 in AMCC play. They will host AMCC opponent Franciscan University on Wednesday December 5th. Game time is set for 8pm.
