Newark, NJ -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's basketball team finished its trip to New Jersey on Saturday, defeating St. Elizabeth 113-86 in the consolation game of the John K. Adams Tipoff Classic, hosted by Rutgers-Newark.
Tra Edwards got things started for the Panthers, making two early field goals inside. The Eagles rallied early, building a 10-6 lead, but Jeremy Rodriguez converted a three-point play to quickly stop the rally. Tommy Walton made a three to give the Panthers a quick lead, but it would not last long, as St. Elizabeth scored the next 7 to take a 5-point lead. The Panthers slowly chipped away at the lead, and then, after a Rodriguez trey and an Edwards three-point play, Coby Farley sank a long ball to tie the game at 23. Xander Norris followed an Eagles jumper with another three, which gave the Panthers a lead that they would not relinquish. Kaleb Pryor made a three, and Niare Poplar converted a steal into a layup to keep the Panthers in front and force a St. Elizabeth timeout with 7:40 remaining in the half.
After the timeout, the Panthers exploded, scoring the next 12 points. Norris made a pair of threes around two Rodriguez free throws to start the rally, and then Xavion Boone finished it with a layup and two from the line. The Eagles finally broke the Panther run with a tip-in, but Clarence Cobbins and Poplar each made layups to continue the run. Following two St. Elizabeth free throws, Cobbins converted a three-point play, and Poplar hit from beyond the arc to push the lead to 20. In the final minute of the half, Rodriguez made a pair of threes around a St. Elizabeth layup to send the game to the break with Pitt-Bradford ahead 63-39.
Pitt-Bradford added to the lead after the break, starting the 2nd half with threes from Boone and Farley. The Panthers maintained their 30-point advantage over the next 6 minutes, answering each small St. Elizabeth run with one of their own, and led 80-50 after another transition three from Farley. With 12 minutes left, the Eagles made a productive run, starting the rally with seven straight points. After a Walton layup and a Poplar three slowed the run, they scored 8 more in a row to cut the lead to 19. Norris stopped the rally with a three, and then after a defensive stop, Boone converted a three-point play to give Pitt-Bradford a 25-point advantage with 8:42 remaining.
With the Panthers ahead 98-72, the Eagles scored 5 straight points; however, Pitt-Bradford answered with a Farley three and layups by Rodriguez and Norris to force a timeout with 5 minutes left, leading 105-77. St. Elizabeth scored six points over the next 60 seconds, but the Panthers locked down over the final 4 minutes of play, limiting the Eagles to just three more free throws. In the final minutes, Cobbins, Dante Sanchez, and Blake Krznaric all made layups to bring the final tally to 113-86.
The Panthers used a diverse scoring attack in the victory, as 6 different players reached double figures. Xander Norris led the way with 17 points, while Jeremy Rodriguez was just behind him at 16. Coby Farley made 5 threes to finish with 15 points, while Clarence Cobbins and Niare Poplar each scored 14 points in 17 minutes of action off the bench. Xavion Boone had a highly efficient night, scoring 12 points on 3-3 from the field, 1-1 from three, and 5-6 from the line. He also tallied 6 rebounds and 4 assists in just 15 mintues of action.
Jeremy Rodriguez was named to the All-Tournament team after averaging 17.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 5.5 steals per game.
The Panthers move to 2-1 on the year with the win. They will be back in action on Wednesday, Nov. 19th, when they host Grove City in their home opener. Tipoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. in KOA Arena.
