HAMBURG, Ny:  The Pitt-Greensburg men's basketball team erased a second half, double-digit deficit to force two overtime periods and take an extremely important game from Hilbert College.  The Cardiac Cats chipped away at an 18 point Hawk lead over the final 10 minutes of regulation and after a pair of Jerell Figueroa (Dover, PA, Dover Area) free throws, sat even with Hilbert, 82-82.

The Bobcats would be tested once again in the first OT period, finding themselves down by two, 89-87 with 11 seconds remaining.  Pitt-Greensburg would push the ball down court and give Mike Connelly (Butler, PA, St. Joseph) a good look at a potential game winning three-pointer.  The shot was untrue but the Bobcats would keep the ball alive, eventually ending up with freshman Joe Mancini (Pittsburgh, PA, North Allegheny) who had the wherewithal to get the three-point shot off before the buzzer sounded, drawing a foul in the process.  After missing the first, Mancini would convert the final two foul shots and send the game into a second overtime period.

The second overtime would go down to the wire with the score knotted at 98-98 and 13 seconds remaining, setting the stage for another Pitt-Greensburg freshman to step up.  It would take Matt Darby (Cranberry Twp, PA, Seneca Valley) all but seven seconds to drive the length of the court, navigating through the Hawk defense and contorting himself for a reverse layup that gave the Bobcats the 100-98 go ahead bucket with four ticks on the clock.  Hilbert would get off a shot before time expired but to no avail as the Bobcats earned the hard fought Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference victory.

With the win Pitt-Greensburg improves to 7-1 in the AMCC and sit atop the standings with Penn State Behrend.  Though the Bobcats own the tie-breaker after defeating the Lions 80-67 last Sunday, January 11^th.  The loss drops Hilbert to 6-2 in conference play as they now sit even with Medaille College and Pitt-Bradford in the #3, 4, and 5 spots.

The Bobcats were paced by Figueroa's 26 points and received double digit scoring performances from Connelly (16), Brian Heinle (Brackenridge, PA, St. Joseph) (12), Rocco Contristano (Pittsburgh, PA, Keystone Oaks) (11), and a double-double performance from Marcus Thomas (Uniontown, PA, Uniontown) that included 18 points and 14 rebounds.

As a team UPG would finish the night hitting 43% of their shots from the floor, 38% from three and hold a 75% to 58% free throw advantage that paid major dividends at the end of regulation and OT.

Pitt-Greensburg will look for their winning ways to continue as they travel to Mount Aloysius on Monday, January 19 for an 8:00pm contest with the Mounties.