GREENSBURG, Pa:  After trailing by as many as 15 points, the Pitt-Greensburg men's basketball team erupted in the second half, scoring 60 points to rally past D'Youville College 101-95.

The Bobcats improve to 3-1 on the season, and open up play in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference at 1-0.  The Spartans drop to 2-6 on the season and are now 0-2 in the AMCC.

For most of the first half, the two teams traded baskets until Pitt-Greensburg used a 10-3 run midway through to grab a seven point lead at 30-23.  Over the final five minutes of the first half, the D'Youville offense caught fire and ripped off a 20-3 run to take a 50-39 lead with under a minute to play.  The Spartans went into the half with a nine-point lead at 50-41.
The Spartans picked up in the second half right where they left off, grabbing a 15-point lead with 16:29 remaining in the game. 

Pitt-Greensburg responded with a 10-0 run of their own to cut the lead to five.  The Bobcats used a combination of high pressure defense and up-tempo offense to ignite the crowd and grab their first lead of the second half with a Rocco Contristano (Pittsburgh, PA, Keystone Oaks) lay-up at the 8:46 mark.  Rocco was fouled on the play and sank the free throw to make it 76-74, UPG. 

UPG continued to build their lead, and the Spartans trailed by as many as 8 points down the stretch.  However the Spartans would not go away without a fight, as a layup by DYC cut the Bobcat lead to 94-93 with 1:05 to play.  After a missed DYC layup that would have tied the game, UPG knocked down their final six free throws to seal the victory, 101-95. 

The Bobcats were led by Contristano, whose 30 point game matches his career high set back during his freshman season in 2012-13.  Rocco continues to be one of the premiere free throws shooters in the AMCC, knocking down all 11 attempts this afternoon.

Senior Marcus Thomas (Uniontown, PA, Uniontown) recorded his first double-double of the season, dropping 21 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in 34 minutes of work.

Classmate Mike Connelly (Butler, PA, St. Joseph) also recorded a double-double, coming off the bench to add 12 points and 10 rebounds on the day.

Finally, senior Jerell Figueroa (Dover, PA, Dover Area) chipped in 13 points to go along with 7 assists and 6 rebounds.

UPG shot 43% from the floor including 9 of 28 (32%) from three point range, while the Spartans put up nearly identical numbers with 43% from the floor and 10 of 30 (33%) from three point range.

UPG got to the charity stripe 33 times converting on 26 of those chances, including 21 of 24 in the second half.  The Bobcats stayed out of foul trouble, allowing the Spartans only 15 free throw opportunities on the day.

Up next for the Bobcats is a trip to Altoona, PA on Wednesday, December 9^th for an AMCC matchup with Penn State Altoona.  Tip-off for Wednesday is set for 6pm.