PITTSBURGH, PA- The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg men's basketball team was eliminated from the 2020 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament by Penn State Behrend 73-68 in the semifinals on Friday afternoon at the Kerr Fitness & Sports Center on the campus of La Roche University.
Pitt-Greensburg finishes the season with a 20-6 overall record, a .769 winning percentage, which is the best final win percentage in the team's history as a member of the NCAA. Penn State Behrend improves to 20-7 on the year and advances to the AMCC Championship game on Saturday at 1 pm against La Roche.
JoJo France paced the Bobcats offensive attack with 19 points. Torian Jenkins added 13 points, and Cam Seigfreid earned his second double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds on the afternoon.
Cold shooting put the Bobcats behind early. They shot 29% (9-for-31) and 2-of-9 from three in the first frame, resulting in their second lowest scoring half of the season (20). Meanwhile, the Lions came out and shot 56% in the opening twenty minutes, including 7-for-13 from beyond the arc.
Penn State Behrend led the entire first half. Their lead first got to double digits at 12:48 when they capped off an 8-0 run to go ahead 14-4. At the 1:27 mark of the first half, Behrend converted an and-one by making the lone free throw attempt of the first half by either team and went up 18 points (36-18). Cody Spaid made the final bucket before the break, making the deficit 36-20 for the Bobcats at the half.
The teams traded baskets to start the second half until the Bobcats were able to get the margin back in single digits. Eight straight points by the Blue and Gold got them there and forced a Lion's timeout at the 12-minute mark with the score 44-37. JoJo France made a layup out of the timeout to get Pitt-Greensburg within five points and cap off a 10-0 run that he started with a three pointer at 16:08.
The Lions scored the following five points to return their lead to 10 points. UPG responded that spurt with a 7-0 one of their own which made it a one possession game (49-46) for the first time since the 14:56 mark of the first half. After a basket by Penn State Behrend, Brady Kingston and Torian Jenkins made back-to-back lay ups to bring the Bobcats to within 1 (51-50) with six and a half minutes to go.
Penn State Behrend netted the next five points and the game never got back within one possession. The Lions made 7 of their 11 free throw attempts in the final minute of the game to fend off any late run by the Bobcats.
Pitt-Greensburg shot a solid 61% from the field in the second half to combat the cold start and be in the game down to the final horn.
Eight different Bobcats dished out an assist, Jenkins had five for the third straight game, to lead the team, which had 17.
Three Bobcats finished the season averaging over 15 points, Matt Johnson led the group at 15.8, while Cam Seigfreid and JoJo France averaged 15.2 and 15.1, respectively. Cody Spaid led Pitt-Greensburg in rebounds (7.8) and assists (3.2).
The team posted the best start and final winning percentage since joining the NCAA in 1997 (7-1 and .769), and the most three pointers in a game (20) this season.
Matt Johnson was named a conference player of the week once this year. Cam Seigfreid eclipsed 1,000 career points this season and JoJo France broke the single season made three pointers record.
