Box Score
Ian Vescovi scored 15 points and had nine rebounds, but the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia erased a 12-point second half deficit and held off the Mountain Cats, 74-68, in Saturday's First Round of the Indiana University (PA) IRMC Classic. Pitt-Johnstown slipped to 3-2 on the year.
Â
Pitt-Johnstown closes out the IRMC Classic against Shaw (NC) University on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Â
Pitt-Johnstown shot 59% from the field in the first half to go up by 10, before taking a five-point halftime lead over the Devils.
Â
Ten early points from
Ian Vescovi and a lay-up from
Matt Palo that capped a 12-2 Pitt-Johnstown run gave the Mountain Cats a 26-16 advantage 11 minutes into the game.
Â
The University of the Sciences battled back with a 12-4 spurt of its own to cut the deficit to 30-28 on two Garrett Kerr free-throws with 1:14 remaining.
Â
However,
Andrew Cressler grabbed an offensive rebound and found
Bill Luther, who drained a 3-pointer as time expired to put Pitt-Johnstown in front 33-28 at the half.
Â
The Mountain Cats came out in the second half and pushed the lead out to 43-31 on consecutive buckets from Cressler, but the Devils stormed back with a 23-7 run over the next eight minutes to regain the lead 52-50 on Tyrone Manns-Barnes' 3-pointer and a pair of free-throws from Kerr at the 7:53 mark.
Â
Cressler's jumper at 3:36 cut it to 61-60, but the Devils never gave up the lead and hit 9-of-10 free-throws in the final minute to hold on for the six-point victory.
Â
Vescovi led four Mountain Cats who scored in double figures with 15 points, nine rebounds, and four blocks. Luther finished with 12 points, while Cressler had 11 points and five rebounds. and
Paul Weatherly collected 11 points and four rebounds.Â
Matt Palo added seven points off the bench for Pitt-Johnstown.
Â
After shooting 59% in the first half, the Mountain Cats finished at 54.5% (22-44) from the field and 7-18 from 3-point range. Pitt-Johnstown, which held a 31-24 advantage on the glass, was also 13-18 from the free-throw line. The Devils shot 42.3% from the floor, 7-17 from behind the 3-point line, and 23-29 from the charity stripe.
Â
Kerr led all-scorers with 26 points for the University of the Sciences, now 4-2. Manns-Barnes had 18 points, and Patrick Connaghan chipped-in 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds in the win.
Â
Following the IRMC Classic, the Mountain Cats travel to Clarion University for a PSAC game on Wednesday, before closing out the first semester with three straight conference doubleheaders with the Lady Cats beginning with Slippery Rock University on Saturday.
