ERIE, PA- The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg men's basketball team lost a back and forth battle with Penn State Behrend, 66-64, on Wednesday night in the Junker Center. The Bobcats drop to 15-4 and 11-3 in the AMCC, while the Lions improve to 13-5 and 10-3 in conference.
Cam Seigfreid led all scorers in the game with 17 points, followed by Torian Jenkins, who added 14 on 6-of-9 shooting off the bench. Matt Johnson and JoJo France each netted double figure points, as well with 12 and 11 respectively.
The contest was evenly matched all throughout. The first half had 10 lead changes and three ties, while the lead changed hands six times and was tied on five occasions.
UPG scored six-straight points, four of which by Seigfreid, to obtain a five-point (9-4) lead at 14:31. The Lions pounced back with an 8-0 run to gain a three-point edge, two minutes later. After the teams traded baskets for the rest of the half, Penn State Behrend held a 27-23 lead at the break.
The first four points of the second half went in Behrend's favor to give them an eight-point (31-23) lead at 17:39. Plus eight was the greatest advantage by either team throughout the forty minutes of play. PSUB returned twice more to the eight-point lead over two minutes following the 31-23 lead.
From 13:02 to 11:51 in the matchup, Pitt-Greensburg went on a 7-0 run to take the lead back at 43-41. Jenkins and Seigfreid made back-to-back three pointers to push the Bobcat lead up to six points (49-43) with 10:41 to play, their largest of the game. Penn State Behrend immediately went on 9-0 run of their own over the ensuing three-plus minutes, to go up three. France halted the run with a game tying three pointer with 7:18 remaining in the game.
The final seven minutes had two ties, which came at 5:21 (58-58) and 3:51 (61-61). Jenkins pulled down an offensive rebound and made a put back to give the Bobcats a one-point lead with two minutes to play. The Lions took the lead back the following possession, and UPG missed thier last six shot attempts of the game.
UPG owned a slight 31-29 rebounding advantage in the game, as nine Bobcats corralled rebounds. Isaiah Zeise led the squad with a career-best six.
Pitt-Greensburg will head to Pitt-Bradford on Saturday (Feb. 1) for a 2 pm tip off. The Bobcats won the earlier matchup, 72-62, at the beginning of the month.
