Men's Basketball 6/13/2013 3:23:00 PM

Mountain Cats Fall to WV Wesleyan on Senior Night

02/23/2011

West Virginia Wesleyan College, ranked eighth in the Atlantic Region, scored 40 points in the final 12 minutes to erase a 15-point deficit and stun the Mountain Cats, 98-94 on Wednesday's Senior Night in the Sports Center. Danny Branch (Washington, D.C.), this year's lone senior, hit nine three-pointers and poured in a career-high 34 points for Pitt-Johnstown. The Mountain Cats, ranked 10th in the Atlantic Region, fell to 16-9 overall and 13-8 in the WVIAC.
The Mountain Cats rode Danny Branch's (Washington, D.C.) 20 first-half points to build a 12-point lead. Branch gave Pitt-Johnstown an 18-14 lead four minutes into the game on one of his six first half three-pointers.
BeJay Corley's dunk cut the West Virginia Wesleyan deficit to 20-18, but Pitt-Johnstown used a 10-2 run, including back-to-back three-pointers from Branch, to build a 30-20 advantage with just under 12 minutes left in the half.
The Bobcats battled back to make it a four-point game on Colby Wohlleb's lay-up at 8:15, before Kevin Byer's (Davidsville, Pa.) rebound and put-back at the seven-minute mark pushed Pitt-Johnstown's advantage to 42-30.
The Bobcats wouldn't go away. West Virginia Wesleyan connected on five three-pointers down the stretch to pull to within three at 50-47 at the break.
West Virginia Wesleyan opened the second half with four straight points to retake the lead for the first time since early in the game on Neven Zeravica's free-throws.
Branch connected on his seventh three-pointer of the night to give the lead back to the Mountain Cats and ignite a 23-7 run at 55-54.
Lay-ups by Jordan Miller (Vinco, Pa.) and Noah Hartung (Butler, Pa.) and a Branch dunk closed out the run and put the Mountain Cats up 73-58 at the 12-minute mark.
However, it was Bobcats the rest of the way. West Virginia Wesleyan outscored Pitt-Johnstown 40-21 of the final 12 minutes to stun the Mountain Cats. Wohlleb free-throw tied it at 84 with 4:57 left, before the Bobcats took a 97-91 lead on Dion Matthis' dunk with 27 seconds remaining.
Branch hit hit nine three-pointer to make it 97-94 but that was as close as it would get.
Branch led all scorers with 34 points on 12-19 shooting, including 9-12 from three-point range. Novak scored 21 points and dished out a game-high 10 assists, while Patrick Grubbs (Turtle Creek, Pa.) had 14 points. Miller rounded out the double-figures scorers with 13 points and five assists.
Branch, who holds the Mountain Cat career-record for three-pointers with 260, also ranks fifth on the Pitt-Johnstown All-Time Scoring List with 1,467 points. Grubbs stands in 12th-place on the scoring list with 1,237 points and third on the all-time rebounding list with 723.
Pitt-Johnstown finished the night shooting 55.7% (34-61) from the field, 11-22 from three-point range, and 15-17 from the free-throw line. West Virginia Wesleyan shot 51.5% (34-66) with 13 three-pointers. The Bobcats were also 17-19 from the charity stripe.
Marquis Weddle's 29 points led five West Virginia Wesleyan players who scored in double-figures. with the win, the Bobcats improved to 17-8 overall and 13-8 in the WVIAC.
Prior to the game, Pitt-Johnstown recognized Danny Branch, this year's lone senior.
The Mountain Cats wrap-up the regular season at Seton Hill University on Saturday, before opening the 2011 WVIAC Tournament on Tuesday in the Sports Center.

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