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Pitt-Greensburg men's basketball remained unbeaten in dramatic fashion Monday afternoon, pulling out a 75–74 victory over Albright in the opening game of the DoubleTree Holiday Classic thanks to Ty Keffer's game-winning tip-in with eight seconds left.
The Bobcats (10–0, 3–0 AMCC) trailed by one after Albright sank two free throws with 38 seconds remaining. On the ensuing possession, Keffer's three-point attempt missed, but Pitt-Greensburg battled for two offensive rebounds. With time winding down, Keffer crashed the glass and tipped in the go-ahead basket to give UPG a 75–74 lead. Albright had one final chance, but its layup and follow-up tip-in at the buzzer didn't fall, sealing the Bobcats' tenth straight win.
The game was a back-and-forth battle from the start, featuring 15 lead changes and seven ties. Pitt-Greensburg trailed 34–33 at halftime despite a first-half surge from Keffer, who knocked down three triples in a two-minute span to erase an early deficit. Joziah Wyatt-Taylor added two late buckets to keep the Bobcats within one at the break.
Early in the second half, Matthew Marinchak's three-pointer gave UPG its first lead since the opening minutes, and Keffer and Trent Rozich followed with layups to push the advantage to 42–39. Albright responded with a 10–0 run to build its largest lead at 58–47 with 12:19 remaining. The Bobcats refused to fold, answering with key plays from their bench: Arkel Batts' layup and Tyler Freas' transition three-pointer sparked the comeback, and Rozich's finish inside cut the deficit to six.
From there, Pitt-Greensburg clawed back possession by possession. Byer's tip-in at 3:06 made it a one-point game, and Marinchak calmly sank two free throws at 2:25 to give UPG a 70–69 lead. After Albright regained the edge, Bigley hit two clutch free throws to tie it at 72–72, and Rozich added another to put the Bobcats ahead before Albright's late free throws set up Keffer's heroics.
Keffer led all scorers with 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including three three-pointers and the decisive tip-in. Byer added 15 points and nine rebounds, while Marinchak chipped in 11 points and Rozich scored 10, going 4-for-6 from the line in crunch time. Bigley directed the offense with six assists and hit two key free throws in the final minute.
Pitt-Greensburg shot 46.6% from the field, 37.5% from three, and 80% at the line, matching Albright on the boards (35–35) and scoring 34 points in the paint.
With the win, Pitt-Greensburg advances to the championship game of the DoubleTree Holiday tournament, where they will face John Carroll tomorrow with a 4PM tipoff.
