All gas, no brakes.
After nearly letting a 29-point lead slip away against Mount Aloysius on Saturday, there was no such drama this time around for the Pitt-Bradford Panthers.
Freshman Braylen Salters led six players in double figures as the Panthers improved to 7-0 with a 120-87 win over Houghton (5-3). The 120 points were a season high.
“We were up 29 with 12 minutes left and I kind of looked at the clock and thought it’s not over,” said Pitt-Bradford coach Jesse DeLoof. “We’ve got to keep our foot on the gas. In hindsight, I was not thrilled after that game, but then you sleep on it and I’m thinking oh, we got the win and maybe we dodge a bullet later in the year. So I thought tonight, we kept our foot on the gas.”
The Panthers came into the game third in Division III in scoring at 105 ppg (Grinnell is No. 1 at 120.0 and Greenville No. 2 at 111.9), a number that will now go up. They trailed 15-14 early, before steals and dunks by Jamarion Butler and Jesse Laster started a 15-0 run that also included a bucket by Sam Brown and a 3-pointer from Xander Norris.
It was part of a larger 48-23 run to close the half, with the Panthers taking a 65-38 lead into the locker room. Four players — Butler (17), Salters (14), Rodd Yarbrough (11) and Norris (10) were all in double figures at halftime, as the Panthers forced 18 turnovers in the first half and 25 for the game.
“I thought we played really well in the first half, and the second half was solid, too,” DeLoof said. “Our goal was to post 25 turnovers, and that’s right what we were at tonight. I thought it just ind of steamrolled. They’re so worried about five counts the whole time and then it’s just the pressure, it just builds on them. But yeah, the first half I thought was maybe our best half to date.”
The lead got as big as 38, 82-44, after a 3-pointer from Keshon Kittrell and a dunk from Salters with 16 minutes to play in the second half, and the Panthers were in cruise control from there.
Not only were six players — Salters, Butler (21), Norris (15), Coby Farley (15), Norris (14) and Laster (12) in double figures, but a total of 13 Panthers made their way into the scoring column.
“I think that some of the system because guys know they’re going to get touches,” DeLoof said “You take so many field goal attempts, it’s like they’re going to get yours, as long as you’re playing good defense, and we’re gonna get stuff in transition. Everyone seems to get their hands on the ball at some point. That helps with the unselfishness. We’ve got an older group of guys that are really just worried about winning, whatever that takes.
The Panthers also shot 14-of-31 from 3-point range (45.2%), led by four from Salters and three from Norris.
“I would expect us to shoot well in our gym,” DeLoof said. “And the biggest thing, too, is free throws. We shot so bad from the free-throw line against Mount, and we should be a good free-throw shooting team. Across the board, we have good shooters, so I made a point of that, too.”
To DeLoof’s point, that number was much better on Tuesday as well, with the Panthers converting on 85.7% of their attempts from the charity stripe (18-of-21).
Jajuan Preaster led four Highlanders in double figures with 22 points, while Christian Sage had 17, Lou Bellamy 15 and Trey Flatt 11.
The Panthers return to action on Saturday, hosting Hilbert (2 p.m.) in their second AMCC game. Hilbert beat Houghton, 84-79 on Nov. 20. The Pitt-Bradford women will follow at 4 p.m.
“I think we can make improvements and start playing even harder, and then that’s what’s going to get us even better,” DeLoof said.
