HAMBURG, NY:  With 3.5 seconds left in Saturday's AMCC semifinal and trailing by two, the Pitt-Greensburg men's basketball team would need two points to pull even with Penn State Behrend.  That's exactly what they'd get thanks to two insanely clutch free throws by senior, Jerell Figueroa (Dover, PA, Dover Area) that tied things up at 55-55 and forced an extra period.  The Bobcats would ride the momentum into and through overtime, outscoring the Lions 12-9 to earn a 67-64 victory and their place in the 2016 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Championship game.

The victory improves the Bobcats to 18-9 on the season and returns them to the title game for the first time since the 2005-2006 season.  Penn State Behrend ends their season at 20-5.

After an 8-0 Lion run opened Saturday's action, the Bobcats would have to wait to score their first points until the 15:54 mark of the first on a Rocco Contristano (Pittsburgh, PA, Keystone Oaks) tip in.  Pitt-Greensburg continued to play catch up for most of the half, trailing by as many as 11 before making a push in the final minutes of the first.  Back-to-back buckets by Contristano and Figueroa closed out the half and brought the Bobcats within six at 27-21.

Pitt-Greensburg wasted no time getting started in the second.  Opening the half on an 11-4 run, capped by nine straight Mike Connelly (Butler, PA, St. Joseph) points to give UPG their first lead of the game at 32-31 with 16:30 to play.  Three lead changes followed over the next five minutes with Behrend snatching the lead, 38-37 at the 11:13 mark.  The Lions used the next four minutes to extend their advantage to as many as six points before the Bobcats dug in and began to erase the deficit.  They'd regain the lead, 53-52 on a Marcus Thomas (Uniontown, PA, Uniontown) layup with 2:32 left to play, only to lose it two possessions later on a Lion layup.  PSB would add a free throw to stretch the margin to 55-53, but only set the stage for Figueroa's last moment heroics.  With the Bobcats season hanging in the balance, Figueroa cashed in on two shots from the charity stripe with just 3.5 seconds remaining to send the game to extra time.

The Bobcats claimed the lead 47 seconds into OT and this time refused to relinquish it.  They'd lead by as many as five points and hold Behrend at bay for the 67-64 final, thanks in part to a 3-4 free throw performance by Figueroa down the stretch.  Connelly, Contristano, and Figueroa combined for all 12 of Pitt-Greensburg's points in the extra period.

On the night Pitt-Greensburg shot 45.6% from the floor and 27.8% from three, recovering from an uncharacteristic 32% (8-25) and 14.3% (1-7) performance in the first half.  The Bobcats took care of business from the foul line, converting 10-11 of their opportunities and on the boards, outrebounding the Lions 40-35.

Individually, UPG was led by Connelly's 21, Figueroa's 19, and Contristano's 18 points and 11 boards.  When all was said and done, the senior trio combined for 58 of the Bobcats 67 points.  Marcus Thomas rounded out the top performers with seven points and 10 rebounds.

Pitt-Greensburg will continue their quest for an AMCC crown tomorrow, facing #1 seed and host, Hilbert College.  The Championship game is set to tip-off at 1:00pm.