If a play doesn’t work out of a huddle for Pitt-Greensburg, the players can ad-lib, no questions asked.
It is as much their right as it is their privilege when they take the basketball court. You might even say improvisation is encouraged — because it works.
A pop-out 3-point look falls through? Swap it out for a pick-and-roll to produce an easy basket. A dribble-drive fans out? Make way for a backdoor cut.
“We’ll run stuff, and it will work,” fifth-year coach Chris Klimchock said, “but it’s not always the stuff I taught them. They have freedom to change it up when they need to.”
The freewheeling liberation within an experienced, senior-heavy group has helped lead the Bobcats to the best start in program history and has them in the hunt for their first conference title since 2016.
A plucky team with a playground edge, UPG (11-0, 3-0 AMCC) plays a fast-paced style that has produced 88.7 points per game. An impressive 107-95 win over Ohio power John Carroll to win the Albright Tournament on Tuesday was enough to put the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference on watch.
“I knew what we had back, and I knew we’d be tough,” said senior guard Matthew Marinchak, a Ligonier Valley graduate and oftentimes the pilot of these dive bombers. “We have a good squad. We have something here. Anything’s possible.”
Heading into Saturday’s nonconference game at Westminster, the Bobcats were winning by an average of 14.5 points and shooting a lofty 49.9% from the field.
Other numbers of interest: a 39.9 shooting percentage from 3-point range and 14.5 assists, 10.5 steals and 15.8 forced turnovers a game — all upper-tier stats in the AMCC.
UPG ranked No. 4 in the country — out of 418 Division III teams — in 3-point percentage.
“We have so many reps together,” Klimchock said. “I don’t have to call out a play all the time. We just try to get the best shot possible and stay aggressive. Our team IQ is very high, and we’re not afraid. We’re not worried about who we play. Our goal is to be prepared and outwork you.
“Matthew was getting taken away a lot early in the season, but he adapted to being a screener. Trent (Rozich) has been tremendous in so many ways for us, and then you see (Ty) Keffer giving us his best shot.”
UPG has been building to this year with a core group that includes Rozich, a versatile, 6-5 senior forward who leads the team in scoring (15.8 ppg), rebounds (7.9) and, most notably, assists (4.5).
His chemistry is evident with fellow seniors Marinchak, who averages 14.5 points (29 3-pointers), Jackson Byer (14.8 ppg, 6.1 rebounds), Michael Bigley (10.6 ppg) and Keffer (9.5 ppg, 4.6 rebounds), a sophomore Southmoreland alum.
“We have the freedom to drive or to play off it,” said Rozich, a burly presence who went from 160 pounds as a soccer-playing high school senior to 200-plus pounds now. “We work well together. We have like eight dudes who can score.”
Rozich has scored inside and from the perimeter, connected on 3s, dribbled the ball up the court and set screens on the wings.
His all-around game has allowed guards to flourish.
Marinchak was named MVP of the Albright Tournament and was joined by Keffer on the all-tournament team.
“In the summer, we were out running at 6 a.m. at Twin Lakes,” Keffer said. “That is why we can get out and run. We’re always working. … Never count us out.”
Klimchock said competition has been sharp year round, which keeps the Bobcats ready for each test, none that ever seems too large.
His players competed in the DREAM summer pro-am league in Pittsburgh for the third year in a row.
The Bobcats played Division I Robert Morris and Division II Seton Hill this season, giving both teams a game before falling in results that didn’t count toward their record.
“We want to be in every game and play up-tempo,” Klimchock said. “I want us to have that adaptability to play different styles if we need to, and I want teams to feel us on the defensive side.”
Rozich and Byer came to UPG from Juniata, where they played one season but wanted a change. That they played AAU with Marinchak was a bonus.
“Matt played a key role in getting those guys here,” Klimchock said.
Said Marinchak: “It was the end of my freshman year. We had played AAU together with the Laurel Highlands Storm. I told them they would probably like playing here.”
Klimchock said this is his deepest team, with the rotation stretching to 10 deep.
Key reserves include senior forward Joziah Wyatt-Taylor, freshman Tony Martin, sophomore Jahmir Collins and sophomore Tyler Freas (Penn-Trafford).
Seven players are averaging 13 or more minutes a game, with five at 25 or more.
UPG was knocking on the door last year when it finished 18-9 and took second behind Pitt-Bradford. The Bobcats earned a bye into the AMCC semifinals but lost to Penn State Altoona, 99-78.
After that, they fell to McDaniel College, 72-63, in the first round of the ECAC Tournament.
They won 15 of their final 16 regular-season games.
Two years ago, UPG lost to La Roche in the conference semifinals.
“We have a chip on our shoulder,” Marinchak said. “We have some good players who didn’t really win anything in high school. We want to win here. We’re a bunch of underdogs.”