By Dave Streett / Staff writer

With four seconds left in overtime, freshman Josh Kucenic toed the free-throw line with a chance to avenge an earlier loss to Hilbert and put Pitt-Greensburg in the playoffs. His first free throw fell short.

“After you miss the first, it’s all mental after that,” Kucenic said.

The second was nothing but net, sealing a 76-72 Bobcat victory. Pitt-Greensburg improved to 10-12 overall (9-6 AMCC) and Hilbert dropped to 10-12 overall (6-9 AMCC). The Bobcats locked up one of the six spots in the AMCC tournament, while Hilbert slipped into seventh place.

Daniel WaajidBy Dave Street / Staff writer

Senior Daniel Waajid’s mother would have been proud if she was there to her son score 30 points and grab 11 boards against Lake Erie College, but she would have been even prouder to see him dripping sweat and staring out the window, waiting for the sun to go down.

A Muslim, Waajid’s discipline is tested each Ramadan, when his faith prohibits him from eating or drinking between sunrise and sunset. Ramadan falls at the beginning of basketball season, when conditioning is the toughest. While the rest of his teammates take water breaks, Waajid, just rinses and spits.

“A dry mouth is a small sacrifice to make for my religion,” he said.

By Dave Streett / Staff writer

Junior Darnell Hampton scored 33 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to help Pitt-Greensburg (8-12 overall, 7-6 AMCC) put away his former teammates.

Hampton transferred to Pitt-Greensburg from Mount Aloysius (3-13 overall, 1-12 AMCC) at the beginning of the season.

“I had a major incident with one of my teammates, so I shopped around the conference to try and find a new team,” Hampton said.

The UPG men’s basketball team squeaked out a three-point victory over Pitt-Bradford Sunday, tightening the standings in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.

Spurred on by Jacquet Wells’ 18 points, the Bobcats’ 74-71 victory over the then first place Panthers moved them into third place in conference standings. Three others reached double figures in scoring – Elliot Prigrom with 16 points and Dan Waajid and Josh Kucenic each with ten. The Bobcats led by three at halftime, with the teams playing point for point in the second 20 minutes.

Forward Daniel Waajid: The junior scored 15 points and pulled down 16 rebounds in the Bobcats 83-76 win over Frostburg State.By Dave Holt / Sports editor

The Bobcats needed a spark last night against Frostburg State, and they got it from two unlikely sources in UPG’s 83-76 win — the first of the season.

Freshman forward Dino Tessari came off the bench and hit two three-point shots late in the first half to pull the Bobcats within four points, 41-37 at halftime. And freshman forward P.J. Dillion, who played only two minutes the entire game, took a charge igniting UPG’s win.

“Dino hit a couple of threes, and that gave us confidence. Then P.J took a charge, and that got the team jacked up,” said head coach Marcus Kahn. “[…] Dino was huge for us. Without those three-point shots, we don’t win the game.”

By Dave Holt / Sports editor

The men’s basketball team lost its 10th straight game on Wednesday at Hilbert, 94-91. The Bobcats’ record fell 2-20 and 2-13 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.

Men’s basketball: Sophomore guard Jacob Polley is logging a lot of playing time this season. Photo by Bryan Porter.By Dave Holt / Sports editor

The UPG men’s basketball lost at home last night (Wednesday) to Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Hilbert, 88-74. The Bobcats record plummeted to 2-11 but they are still treading water in the AMCC at 2-4.

By Dave Holt / Sports editor

On Dec. 6 the men’s basketball team got its first win of the season when it defeated Mount Aloysius 96-84. After starting the season 0-6, the Bobcats have something to build on as they start from scratch.

By Dave Holt / Sports editor

With an 0-5 start, the men’s basketball team has dug itself a deep hole that will be hard to climb out of. For a team that returned many key players from last year, it is the last thing the Bobcats expected.

Men’s Basketball: Rashad Davison guards Chris Streett during practice.By Dave Holt / Sports editor

Over the past two seasons, UPG men’s basketball compiled one of the best records in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. However, two straight conference championship games yielded two losses. This year’s team would like nothing more than to correct that.