GREENSBURG, PA- The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg men's basketball team used a strong second half to down D'Youville 91-73 Saturday (Dec. 7) afternoon. The Bobcats are off to their best start since the school joined the NCAA (1997-Pres) at 6-1 and stay perfect in conference at 4-0. The Spartans fall to 1-6 and 0-4 in the AMCC.
Matt Johnson led four Bobcats, who had four players tally double-figures, with 21 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out 6 assists. Cam Seigfreid went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc on his way to a 19-point night, while JoJo France tallied 16 and Torian Jenkins pitched in 10 to round out the double-digit scorers for Pitt-Greensburg.
Cody Spaid paced the Bobcats, who ended the night with a plus-14 rebounding advantage, on the boards with 10. Jenkins and Brady Kingston corralled seven apiece, three of Kington's came on the offensive end to lead the team.
The first half was a back and forth battle inside Chambers Hall. The lead changed thirteen times over the first twenty minutes. Four points was the largest lead by either team. The four-point advantage came twice for UPG early in the contest at both the 18:12 and 17:42 mark. Nine ties ensued in the half. The teams shot nearly identical in the first frame with D'Youville going 16-for-33 and UPG 15-for-33. Devon Darrell made a three pointer in the closing seconds to give D'Youville a one point, 39-38, lead to take into the break.
Spaid and Seigfreid opened the second half by making back-to-back baskets sparking a 10-2 for the Bobcats in the first two and a half minutes out of the locker room, which gave the Bobcats a six-point edge. They would not surrender the lead the remainder of the game.
Pitt-Greensburg extended their lead to double-digits and beyond over a 26-6 run that started at 10:28 and lasted nearly seven minutes. Seigfreid, who had seven points in the course of the run, sank a free throw at 9:45 to put Pitt-Greensburg up by ten for the first time, 66-56. France, who scored six points during the spurt, drained a three pointer just over three minutes later stretching the advantage to over 20 points, 79-58. Matt Johnson led the Blue and Gold with 8 points over the spurt.
The Bobcats made seven out of nine attempted field goals throughout the run, and three of four from beyond the arc. Ferocious defense by UPG held the Spartans to 1-for-13 shooting and three turnovers for the nearly seven minutes UPG was on the scoring montage.
UPG harnessed its largest advantage of the game at the 3:36 mark when they went up 26, 88-62, on a Seigfreid layup, which capped off the 26-6 run. The Bobcats cruised the rest of the way to an 18-point victory.
The Blue and Gold shot 47.8 percent (11-for-23) from three-point land. They worked the paint as well, scoring 38 points in close to the basket. The team dished out an impressive 23 assists on 32 baskets. In second chance points the Bobcats outscored the Spartans 11-2. Nate Burt had four blocks to lead the team, which had seven in total.
The Bobcats will hit the road for two games over the next two weeks. First up is a trip up north to take on Hilbert College Saturday (Dec. 14) at 1 pm.
