Men's Basketball 6/13/2013 2:53:00 PM

Branch's Three-pointer Lifts Mountain Cats Over Wesleyan

11/30/2010

Danny Branch's (Washington, D.C.) three-pointer with one second remaining helped Pitt-Johnstown erase a five-point deficit with :25 left on the clock and lead the Mountain Cats to a 96-95 victory at West Virginia Wesleyan College on Tuesday. Nick Novak (Murrysville, Pa.) scored a game-high 23 points, and Patrick Grubbs (Turtle Creek, Pa.) added 21 points for Pitt-Johnstown, which improve to 5-0 overall and 4-0 in the WVIAC.
The Mountain Cats, who are receiving votes in the NCAA Division II national poll, built a 13-point lead six minutes into the second half., but a big West Virginia Wesleyan run erased the deficit and gave the Bobcats an eight-point lead with six minutes to play. Pitt-Johnstown trailed 95-90 with :25 remaining, before scoring six unanswered, including Branch's game-winner to remain undefeated.
West Virginia Wesleyan scored the first five points and ran out to a 14-8 lead five minutes into the game on a Nevan Zeravica basket.
Two three-pointers from Jordan Miller (Vinco, Pa.) and a lay-up by Bill Luther (Gibsonia, Pa.) helped Pitt-Johnstown pull to within two, before the Mountain Cats took their first lead at 18-17 on a Branch three-pointer with 12 minutes left.
The Bobcats pushed the lead back to six at 26-20, but Pitt-Johnstown answered with an 11-0 run of their own over the next three minutes to take a 31-26 lead. Novak put the Mountain Cats up 27-26 with a free-throw, and Grubbs and Luther followed with baskets to make it 31-26 at the 6:25 mark.
After two ties and six more lead changes, Pitt-Johnstown got a pair of free-throws from Grubbs with a second left to take a 50-47 advantage into the halftime break.
Pitt-Johnstown came out in the second half on an 18-8 run to extend the lead to 13 at 68-55 on Luther's three-pointer at 13:50.
The Bobcats battled all the way back to tie it at 78 on T.J. Thompson's three-pointer with 7:36 to play, before Zeravica gave the lead back to West Virginia Wesleyan, 80-78, after a Pitt-Johnstown turnover.
West Virginia Wesleyan pushed its run to 33-12 and build the lead to 88-80 on another Thompson three-pointer at 6:01.
However, the Mountain Cats scored six unanswered points in the final :25 seconds to secure the victory.
Novak led six Mountain Cats who scored in double-figures with 23 points on 10-16 shooting and 3-5 from the free-throw line. Novak also grabbed five rebounds and dished out four assists. Grubbs had 21 points and a game-high nine rebounds, while Luther and Branch chipped in 15 points apiece. Luther pulled down six rebounds, and Branch had a game-high nine assists. Paul Weatherly (Johnstown, Pa.) and Miller each had 10 points to round out the double-figure scorers.
The Mountain Cats shot 51.% (38-69) from the field with eight three-pointers. Pitt-Johnstown was also 12-19 from the free-throw line. West Virginia Wesleyan, which held a 38-33 advantage in rebounding, shot 54.3% (38-70) from the floor, 12-29 from three-point range and 7-9 from the charity stripe.
Branch, who holds the Mountain Cat career-record for three-pointers with 198, also ranks 14th on the Pitt-Johnstown All-Time Scoring List with 1,137 points. He is eight points shy of tying Dwight Hines (2002-07) for 13th-place on the scoring list.
Colby Wohlleb's 22 points and six rebounds paced five Bobcats who scored in double-figures. With the loss, West Virginia Wesleyan slipped to 2-1 overall and 2-0 in the WVIAC.
The Mountain Cats travel to Glenville State (WV) College for a WVIAC game on Saturday and to Clarion University on December 8, before play their final home game of the first semester against Bloomsburg University on Saturday, Dec. 11 at 3 p.m. in the Sports Center.

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