BUFFALO, Ny:  After a tightly contested, back and forth first half, the Medaille Mavericks used a big second half to pull away from Pitt-Greensburg, 94-80 on Saturday afternoon in a critical AMCC matchup.

The win pushes Medaille into sole possession of second place with a 12-2 mark in the AMCC with 4 games remaining.  Meanwhile Pitt-Greensburg drops to third place with 4 games to go and sits at 11-3.

UPG remains in the driver's seat to host a first round playoff game as they need just one more win to lock up at least a #4 seed.

On Saturday, the Bobcats traded punches with the Mavericks in the first half, but it was Medaille who held a small advantage at half time, 46-42.  UPG's Jerell Figueroa scored 10 of his 18 points in the first half to keep UPG within striking distance.

However, in the second half, the Mavericks shot lights out from the floor at 61% and built a double digit lead that they held for most of the half.  UPG countered with a 9-0 run with just over 13 minutes remaining to cut the Maverick lead to just 3 points, but the Mavericks would make a final push to stretch the lead back to double digits for good with just over 6 minutes to play and held on for a 14 point victory.

UPG was led by junior Rocco Contristano who had a team high 20 points in 37 minutes of work.  Figueroa added 18 along with 6 rebounds, while Marcus Thomas and Brian Heinle each added 12 points and 7 rebounds.   Heinle's 12 points now leave him just 8 shy of becoming the program's 8^th 1,000 point scorer, as he sits at 992 points for his career as a Bobcat.

Pitt-Greensburg will play three of its final four games at home, starting with a visit from the La Roche Redhawks this Wednesday (Feb 11^th).  UPG won an exciting game over LRC in their previous matchup, 86-84 in Pittsburgh back on January 14^th.  Tip off for this Wednesday is set for 8pm in Chambers Hall.