Men's Basketball 4/8/2013 12:00:00 AM

Shepherd Downs Mountain Cats, 92-84

Shepherd Downs Mountain Cats, 92-84
     01/03/13... (Box Score) Andrew Cressler (Pittsburgh, Pa.) had career-highs of 28 points and 12 rebounds, but Shepherd (WV) University opened-up a 10-point second half advantage and snapped an eight game losing streak to the Mountain Cats with a 92-84 WVIAC victory, Thursday night in the Sports Center. Pitt-Johnstown had its three-game winning streak snapped and slipped to 6-3 overall and 3-3 in conference-play.
     Cressler's lay-up six minutes into the game put Pitt-Johnstown in front 17-11, before Shepherd outscored the Mountain Cats 14-5 over the next six minutes to go up 25-22 on back-to-back baskets by Chad Moore.
    The Rams pushed it 31-26 on a 3-pointer from Brantley Osborne, but Pitt-Johnstown battled back to regain the lead, 38-36, on three of Jordan Miller's (Vinco, Pa.) 16 first half points with 2:05 remaining.
     Shepherd again rebuilt its lead to four when Austin Cunningham scored with seven seconds left in the half, but Miller hit another 3-pointer from the corner as time expired to cut the Mountain Cat deficit to 44-43 at the break.
     It see-sawed back and forth, before ten straight points by the Rams broke a 55 all tie and gave Shepherd a 65-55 advantage when Morgan McDonald scored at the 11:29 of the second half.
     Cressler's 3-pointer just over a minute later got Pitt-Johnstown to within three at 65-62, but another Osborne 3-pointer quickly pushed the Rams lead back out to 10 with nine minutes remaining.
     The Mountain Cats were able to get it down to four on two occasions, but the Rams sealed the win by hitting 9 of 10 free-throws in the final 1:25.
     Cressler's 28 points and game-high 12 rebounds paced three Mountain Cats who scored in double figures. Miller finished with 23 points, including 6-10 from behind the 3-point line, and Nick Novak (Murrysville, Pa.) added 19 points and a game-high seven assists. Ian Vescovi (Patton, Pa.) had six points and nine rebounds, while Bill Luther (Gibsonia, Pa.) tallied five points and five rebound in the loss.
     Novak currently stands in fourth-place on the Mountain Cat All-Time Scoring List with 1,612 points and third on the assists list with 441, while Miller is second on the all-time 3-point field goal list (240) and 17th on the scoring list with (1,132 pts.).
     Pitt-Johnstown, which was unable to overcome 21 turnovers, shot 50% (29-58) from the field, 10-22 from 3-point range, and 16-27 from the free-throw line. Shepherd shot 46.5% (33-71), 5-18 from behind the 3-point line, and 21-27 from the charity stripe.
     Moore's game-high 31 points and 11 rebounds led Shepherd. Cunningham had 16 points, and McDonald's double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, for the Rams, who improved to 7-2 overall and 4-1 in the WVIAC.
     The Mountain Cats start a string of three consecutive WVIAC games beginning at West Liberty (WV) University on Saturday. Pitt-Johnstown will return home on January 14 to host a conference doubleheader with the Lady Cats against Ohio Valley (WV) University. The Lady Cats will tip-off at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men's game at 7:30 p.m.

Print Friendly Version