HAMBURG, NY:  After nearly a two decade wait, the Pitt-Greensburg men's basketball team can call themselves conference champions again.  The Bobcats led for nearly all of Saturday's Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference basketball final, but would need to fend off a late rally for a 76-74 victory over the #1 seeded Hawks of Hilbert College.

The championship victory improves Pitt-Greensburg to 19-9 on the season and places the 2015-16 squad in the company of the 1998-99, and 1999-2000 Bobcat basketball squads that also brought home the AMCC crown.  Hilbert concludes their season at 22-5.

Four Pitt-Greensburg points opened Saturday's game, establishing an early advantage and placing the Hawks in catchup mode from the start.  Hilbert was up to the challenge, pulling even with UPG at 6-6, four minutes and 11 seconds into the first.  Just 10 seconds later, a Tyler DeWitt (Ligonier, PA, Ligonier Valley) three-pointer would reestablish the lead for Pitt-Greensburg at 9-6.  The Bobcats would grow their advantage to seven at the 12:27 mark when a Rocco Contristano (Pittsburgh, PA, Keystone Oaks) three touched the bottom of the net to move the score to 18-11.  The margin teetered between one and two possessions over the next ten minutes before a Hilbert rally pulled the Hawks even 31-31 with 2:06 left in the half.  Once again UPG would answer, capturing the lead on a Contristano foul shot followed by a Jerell Figueroa (Dover, PA, Dover Area) three that stretched the Bobcat advantage to four.  The Hawks kept things close down the stretch, but the Bobcats would take a 39-36 lead into halftime.

Four Hilbert points to open the second half prompted a quick UPG response.  The reply was a Mike Connelly (Butler, PA, St. Joseph) three-pointer and it placed Pitt-Greensburg atop a 42-40 score with 18:19 left in the game.  The Bobcat lead would swell to eight points on two occasions, the latter after another Contristano three fell true at the 12:27 mark for a 57-49 score.  Despite the Bobcats enjoying their largest lead, Hilbert refused to go away, battling back and eventually taking a 74-73 lead with just 24 seconds left to play.  But for the second day in a row, a senior would step up in the waning seconds and with the game hanging in the balance.  Today it would be Connelly, who took a pass from Figueroa and drained a three-pointer with 19 seconds on the clock to clinch the game for the Bobcats and cap the afternoon's scoring at 76-74 in favor of Pitt-Greensburg.

Pitt-Greensburg held statistical advantages in all shooting categories, outshooting the Hawks 44.6% to 36.5% from the floor 37.5% to 30% from three and 75% to 57.9% from the foul line.  The Bobcat bench was also a factor outscoring their Hilbert counterparts 24-9.

The Bobcats were paced by a trio of seniors, starting with Contristano's 19 points and 8 rebounds.  Figueroa was right on his heels with 18 points, four assists, and three steals while Connelly rounded things out with 15 points.  Marcus Thomas (Uniontown, PA, Uniontown) brought down a team-high 10 rebounds to go along with his team-high seven assists, and seven points.

After their impressive playoff performances, two Bobcats were named to the 2016 All-Tournament team.  Standout seniors, Jerell Figueroa and Rocco Contristano earned the honors.  For more All-Tournament selections follow the link:  2016 AMCC All-Tournament Team

Pitt-Greensburg will find out what their NCAA tournament future holds tomorrow when the pairings and schedule are released.  Check back for more information on the Bobcats NCAA tournament berth.