Pitt-Greensburg men's basketball ready to make noise

The Pitt-Greensburg Bobcats are on the prowl.

Will they chase down their prey? It’s too early to tell, but third-year men’s basketball coach Brody Jackson is encouraged.

“You have to take small steps,” said Jackson, who is in his third season at UPG.

On Saturday night, UPG took the short trip east to perennial Presidents’ Athletic Conference power Saint Vincent in an early-season nonconference showdown, and the Bobcats’ 87-69 victory could be a statement to the rest of the Division III Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.

UPG (1-1) had a total of 15 victories the past three seasons since winning the AMCC Tournament in 2016 and earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

“Before I got here, they won one game the previous year,” Jackson said. “Watching film, I didn’t see a one-win team. They were freshmen, most of them. The Kentuckys and Dukes can get away with that. Not at the D-III level. When you’re 18 years old and you’re playing against guys 22 and 23 years old, you’re not going to fare too well.”

The victory Saturday is significant, but Jackson wasn’t satisfied.

“We made too many turnovers. We’ve got to be able to take care of the rock,” said Jackson, whose team committed 16 turnovers, six more than the Bearcats.

Junior Cam Seigfreid (Penn-Trafford) led the Bobcats with 21 points. Cody Spaid added 17 points to go with nine rebounds and five assists. JoJo France contributed 12 points and eight rebounds, and Brady Kingston had 11 points and seven assists.

The Bearcats have come a long way since Jackson’s arrival before the start of the 2017-18 season.

“It’s been fun for me to see these guys grow,” Jackson said. “Now, many of them are seniors, and I’ve had them for three years in the system. I can still remember at my first practice thinking to myself, ‘Did I make the right choice?’ Sometimes, we don’t have great practices, but we are head-and-shoulders above what we were before my time here.”

UPG was chosen to finish seventh among 11 AMCC teams in a preseason poll of conference coaches. Perhaps their most recent performance at Saint Vincent will turn some heads.

“We’re definitely a family here. We’re protective of each other,” junior guard Matt Johnson said.

Two UPG players — the 6-foot-2 Seigfreid, a third-team All-AMCC selection a year ago, and France, a 5-11 sophomore — were included among the AMCC’s preseason players to watch.

Four of the team’s top five offensive threats, led by Seigfreid, the conference’s third-leading scorer last season at 15.2 points per game, return.

France is the other returning double-digit scorer, averaging 12.0 points mainly off the bench.

UPG is idle until Saturday, when the Bobcats play their home opener against Bethany, Jackson’s alma mater.

He started three seasons for the Bison, leading them to three PAC championships, and ranks as the school’s all-time leader in assists, 3-pointers, 3-point shooting percentage, free-throw shooting percentage and games.

The 34-year-old Jackson, a native of Manchester, Ohio, played recreationally until recently.

“I’m done,” he said. “I tore my Achilles’ tendon playing basketball this year.”

Now that he has put away his sneakers, what will he do for fun?

“Look, I went to Bethany,” he said. “I played there. That kept me occupied. If you’ve ever been to Bethany … Greensburg is lot like Manchester, which is a suburb of Akron. This is like being in New York City. There’s plenty to do.”