Men's Basketball 6/13/2013 3:10:00 PM

Mountain Cats Roll Over Fairmont State, 85-65

02/03/2011

The Mountain Cats used a 23-7 first half run to build an 18-point lead on their way to cruising to an 85-65 victory over Atlantic Region No. 5 Fairmont State (WV) University, Thursday night in the Sports Center. Patrick Grubbs (Turtle Creek, Pa.) had a double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead four Pitt-Johnstown double-figure scorers. The Mountain Cats, who hit 11 three-pointers, improved to 13-5 overall and moved into third-place in the WVIAC with a 10-4 mark.
A Grubbs' free-throw 6:10 into the game gave Pitt-Johnstown a slim 12-8 lead.
Fairmont State got a basket from Melvin Rhodes to pull to within two at 12-10, but Pitt-Johnstown used five three-pointers in a 23-7 run over the next 6:30 to build 35-17 advantage.
Jordan Miller (Vinco, Pa.) connected on two straight three-pointers, and Nick Novak (Murrysville, Pa.) added one of his own to push the lead to 24-13 midway through the half. Miller then hit his third of the half at 6:06 to give Pitt-Johnstown the 18-point lead.
The Falcons scored the next five points get to within 13 at the four-minute mark, before the Mountain Cats went into the halftime break leading 37-24.
Mike Hurd opened the second with a three-pointer to make it a 10-point game, but Pitt-Johnstown got a three-pointer from Danny Branch (Washington, D.C.) and a lay-up from Novak to get the lead back to 15 at 42-27.
The Mountain Cats built their lead to 17 points on Branch's lay-up at 15:46, but Fairmont State used quick 6-0 spurt to cut it to 11 at 52-41 on Isaac Thornton's three-pointer.
Fairmont State eventually got the deficit down to 10 with 11:05 remaining, but Pitt-Johnstown outscored the Falcons 13-2 over the next five minutes to make it 76-55 on another Novak three-pointer with just under six minutes to play.
The Falcons never got closer than 16, as the Mountain Cats cruised to the 20-point win.
Grubbs posted game-highs of 24 points and 10 rebounds and dished six assists, while Miller had 16 points, including four three-pointers, six rebounds and six assists. Novak added 15 points and a game-high seven assists, and Branch chipped in 14 points on four three-pointers and a bucket.
Branch, who holds the Mountain Cat career-record for three-pointers with 232, also ranks eighth on the Pitt-Johnstown All-Time Scoring List with 1,334 points. Grubbs stands in 15th-place on the scoring list with 1,115 points and fourth on the all-time rebounding list with 662.
Pitt-Johnstown, which out-rebounded the Falcons 40-31, shot 55.9% (33-59) from the field, 11-24 from three-point range and 8-12 fromt he free-throw line. Fairmont State ended the night shooting 38.8% (26-67) from the floor, 10-40 from behind the three-point line and just 3-4 from the free-throw line.
Steve Custis and Nick Bonnett each scored 13 points to lead the Falcons, who fell to 13-5 overall and 11-5 in the WVIAC.
The Mountain Cats travel to Bluefield State (WV) College on Saturday for a WVIAC game, before hosting a conference doubleheader with the Lady Cats against Wheeling Jesuit (WV) University on Monday in the Sports Center. The Lady Cats tip-off at 6 p.m. followed by the men's game at 8 p.m.

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