GREENSBURG, Pa:  With 3:53 remaining in the first half and the Bobcats trailing 27-26, Mike Connelly (Butler, PA, St. Joseph) drained one of his many career threes.  He'd give Pitt-Greensburg a two-point advantage and etch his name in the UPG record book, netting his 1000^th point in the process.  Connelly would ride the emotion the rest of the way out, scoring a game-high 24 points to help the Bobcats edge Medaille by a 75-69 score.

Connelly is the third member of the 2016 graduating class to reach the 1000 point milestone, joining Jerell Figueroa (Dover, PA, Dover Area) who accomplished the feat earlier this season and Rocco Contristano (Pittsburgh, PA, Keystone Oaks) whose 1000^th came during the 14-15 playoff run.

With the win, Pitt-Greensburg improves to 11-3 in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference play, marking the second straight season the Bobcats have won at least 11 conference games.  With four regular season games remaining, they'll need two more wins to match the 13 win mark reached a season ago.  Overall, the Bobcats sit at 14-7 while Medaille falls to 7-7 in the AMCC and 9-12 on the year.

With two wins over #5 Medaille, UPG has secured themselves a top four finish for the second year in a row.

Saturday's matchup would be a tight one with Pitt-Greensburg owning the largest advantage of the game at seven points with 2:49 remaining in the first half.  Throughout both halves the lead would change 15 times and sit even on nine occasions. 

Ultimately, the game would be decided in the final two minutes of play.  With the Mavericks sitting atop a 66-62 lead, a successful Connelly free throw would cut things to three with 2:09 remaining.  Figueroa would deliver next with a clutch three pointer to knot things up 66-66 with 1:44 left in the game.  22 seconds later Connelly was at it again, draining another three to give the Bobcats a 71-68 advantage.  Marcus Thomas (Uniontown, PA, Uniontown) would follow with a layup coupled with a pair of Figueroa foul shots to cap an 11-1 closing run by UPG to clinch the 75-69 final.

Connelly's 24 points would pace the Pitt-Greensburg offense, but the Bobcats would also get solid production from the other members of the "big four."  Contristano finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, two blocks, and two steals followed by Figueroa's 14 points, eight rebounds, and three assists.  Thomas rounded out the top performers with 12 points and had a mammoth night on the boards, pulling down 21, just one rebound short of the school's record of 22 set by David Palmer in 2012.

The Bobcats continue their quest for a conference championship with a trip to La Roche College on Wednesday, February 10^th with tip-off scheduled for 6:00pm.