Slow start stifles Men’s Basketball at Pitt Bradford

BRADFORD, Pa. --- Carlow University men's basketball lost a 96-71 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference contest to Pitt Bradford at McDowell Sport & Fitness Center Saturday.

Aleel Batts (Middletown, Pa./Middletown Area HS) shot 6 for 8 from the field to lead Carlow with 17 points off the bench. Clayton Cook (Brookville, Pa./Brookville Area HS) added 14 points, and Tomasi Pavihi (Wellington, New Zealand/St. Mary's Ryken HS/College of Marin) contributed 12. Sam Byrd (Chicago, Ill./Jones College Prep) pulled down a game- and season-high 10 rebounds in the effort.

The Panthers (13-9, 8-5 AMCC) went on a 28-8 run the final 10 minutes of the first half to take a 20-point lead into halftime. Prior to that, Carlow (3-19, 3-10 AMCC) tied the score twice and only ever trailed at most by four points.

Despite the Celtics' best efforts, they were unable to overcome the first half deficit, with Pitt Bradford outscoring Carlow 53-48 in the second half.

The Celtics outrebounded the Panthers 52-43 and outscored Pitt Bradford 42-32 in the paint.

The Panthers scored 29 points off 24 Carlow turnovers and outscored the Celtics 46-31 off the bench.

Jeremy Rodriguez led the Panthers with 17 points off the bench, and four other players tallied double figures for the win.

The Celtics travel to Pitt Greensburg for a 4 p.m. AMCC game Feb. 14.