Pitt tops Towson, 63-59

After trailing for most of the game, Pitt took a late lead on a teardrop floater from redshirt senior guard Jonathan Milligan with 51.7 seconds left in the game. Milligan’s shot would be the deciding score as Pitt defeated Townson 63-59 in comeback fashion.

Pitt (8-5) had to fight back after finding themselves in an early deficit thanks to a dominant first half performance from Towson (10-3) on the defensive end. Towson held Pitt to just 1-16 from three point range in the first half and forced 12 turnovers.

First-year guard Parker Stewart led the Panthers in scoring in the first half with eight points including their only three point make of the half.

In the second half the Panthers shooting woes continued. While they hit more threes, going 6-12 from deep in the second half, they shot just 39 percent as a team. Stewart was the team’s leading scorer with 13 points despite shooting just 4-12 from the field.

The Tigers defense persisted and continued to pressure the Panthers into bad turnovers. By the end of the game, the Panthers had amassed 21 turnovers to Towson’s 11.

Pitt was able to pull out the win thanks to a 16-4 run over the last four and a half minutes of the game. Towson’s shooting went cold as it was unable to score over the last 2:49 of the game.

The Panthers head into their first conference game against Miami on Dec. 30th at the Petersen Event Center. Tipoff is at 4 p.m.