Medaille Sports

Medaille (23-4, 16-4) hadn’t beaten Pitt-Bradford in men’s basketball since last years AMCC Championship game. The Panthers had been the Maverick killers all year, handing Medaille their first loss of the year, and their only loss at home. None of that mattered today, as the Medaille men’s basketball team brought home their second straight AMCC tournament championship with an (89-77) win over the second ranked Pitt-Bradford Panthers. Both teams came out of the locker room with high intensity for the re-match of last years AMCC final. Senior guard Mike Berkun (Getzville, NY/Williamsville North) would hit two key three pointers in the beginning of the first half to give Medaille momentum. Playing an enormous role in the offense was, junior guard Ricky Reed (Henrietta, NY / Rush-Henrietta)(pictured) who wreaked havoc all day for the interior defense of the Panthers.Reed would seemingly drive the lane at will; scoring and keeping the Panthers defense on its heels until the final buzzer sounded. Reed would finish with a game high (23) points, (5) boards and went (7-8) from the free throw line. The first half would end with Medaille up (18) and both teams in foul trouble, a foreshadowing of what was to come in the second half. After the break Bradford would come out firing, scoring the first four points of the stanza; however that would be met quickly with a run by Medaille. The story behind Bradford’s success against the Mavericks this year was field goal shooting. The Panthers shot (50%) and (43%) respectively in their two victories over Medaille; however, today was a complete 180 degree turnaround, as Bradford shot a woeful (26%) from the floor in the first half and ended the game shooting (40%). The other story of the second half was that of the tight officiating. In a game that saw a total of (58) fouls, (3) foul outs and (3) technical fouls, free throws were essential. Just like in Friday’s game, Medaille’s shooting from the charity stripe was excellent, going (33-40) or (82.5%). The win sends the men to the NCAA tournament for the second straight season. The Mavs will find out who and where they are playing when the NCAA announces their tournament field on Monday morning at 10:00am.