Men's Basketball 6/13/2013 2:57:00 PM

Mountain Cats Rally For 92-87 Overtime Win at Shepherd

12/18/2010

Nick Novak (Murrysville, Pa.) scored a game-high 26 points, and Danny Branch (Washington, D.C.) added 22 points to help the Mountain Cats battle back from a 16-point deficit with 5:04 to play and pull out a 92-87 overtime victory at WVIAC rival Shepherd (WV) University on Saturday. Pitt-Johnstown improved to 7-2 overall and 5-1 in the WVIAC.
After trailing by 16 with 5:04 on the clock, the Mountain Cats made it 80-77 with :07 remaining. Bill Luther (Gibsonia, Pa.) hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to tie it up and force overtime. In the overtime, Pitt-Johnstown erased a four-point-deficit and outscored the Rams 9-0 in the final 2:53 to secure the five-point win.
Novak scored 14 of the Mountain Cats' first 16 points to keep Pitt-Johnstown in it early. Shepherd ran out to a 17-8 lead eight minutes into the game, before a Novak three-pointer got the Mountain Cats to within three at 17-14 a minute later.
The Rams answered to rebuild the lead to 33-21on a Chad Moore dunk at 5:57, but Pitt-Johnstown clawed its way back to cut it to 41-36 at halftime.
The Mountain Cats made it 44-41 on a lay-up and free-throw by Luther two minutes into the second half. Shepherd took control again and outscored Pitt-Johnstown 32-19 over the next 13 minutes to take its largest lead of the game at 76-60 with 5:04 left.
However, it was all Pitt-Johnstown down the stretch. The Mountain Cats used a 17-4 run to get to within three at 80-77 to set up Luther's game-tying three-pointer as time expired, before winning it in overtime.
Novak led all scorers with 26 points on 8-12 shooting from the field and 10-11 from the free-throw line. Branch had 22 points and five rebounds, while Luther and Patrick Grubbs (Turtle Creek, Pa.) each collected 14 points and eight rebounds. Jordan Miller (Vinco, Pa.) rounded out the double-figures scorers with 13 points, six rebounds and a team-high four assists.
Branch, who holds the Mountain Cat career-record for three-pointers with 209, also ranks 11th on the Pitt-Johnstown All-Time Scoring List with 1,203 points. Grubbs stands in ninth-place on the Mountain Cat All-Time Rebounding List with 572. Grubbs is also 72 points away from becoming the 22nd Mountain Cat to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
Pitt-Johnstown, which held a 39-30 advantage in rebounding, shot 52.6% (30-57) from the field, 7-21 from three-point range and 25-31 from the free-throw line. Shepherd shot 46.3% (31-67) from the floor, 12-35 from behind the three-point line and 13-17 from the charity stripe.
Jonathan Motichka's 16 points led six Rams who scored in double-figures. Moore grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for Shepherd, which fell to 3-6 overall and 1-4 in the WVIAC.
The Mountain Cats are currently breaking for the holiday season. Pitt-Johnstown will open the second semester at home with a non-conference game against Central Penn College on Wednesday, January 5 at 7 p.m. in the Sports Center.

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