Men's Basketball 6/14/2013 9:03:00 AM

Mountain Cats Pull Away for 92-79 Win Over Wheeling Jesuit

02/13/2010

Danny Branch (Washington, D.C.) hit six three-pointers and finished with a game-high 30 points to help the Mountain Cats break open one-point game midway through the second half in a 92-79 victory over Wheeling Jesuit (WV) University on Breast Cancer Awareness Night, Saturday in the Sports Center. Pitt-Johnstown improved to 12-10 overall and 8-9 in the WVIAC.
Joey Suchy's three-pointer 4:41 into the game gave Wheeling Jesuit its only lead of the first half at 10-9.
The Mountain Cats took control the remainder of the half. Branch, who eclipsed the 900-career-point mark in the game, hit a three-pointer to put Pitt-Johnstown up by double-digits at 22-12 at the 12-minute mark, before Rudy Roberts' (Cleveland, OH) lay-up capped the 17-2 run and gave the Mountain Cats a 14-point lead at 26-12 with 9:41 left.
The Cardinals cut it to seven at 30-23 on Obi Ukwuoma's jumper at 4:42, but Pitt-Johnstown scored six straight to build the lead back to 13 1:32 later on an Andy Byer (Tire Hill, Pa.) lay-up.
Steve Catich hit four free-throws, and Recardo Gaddy made one in the final minute to slice the Mountain Cats' lead to 39-33 at the break.
Branch hit a three-pointer and followed it with a lay-up to open the second half and push the lead to 44-33, but Wheeling Jesuit answered with a 17-6 run over the next five minutes to get to within 50-47 on Gaddy's basket with 13:31 to play.
Patrick Grubbs' (Turtle Creek, Pa.) free-throw at 12:34 got the made it 54-47, before consecutive three-pointers by Gaddy cut the deficit to one at 59-58 at 11:05.
It was all Mountain Cats after that. Branch's sixth three-pointer of the night extended the lead to eight at 71-63, then back into double-digits at 78-68 on Steve Heidenthal's (Clymer, Pa.) basket with 5:30 remaining.
Pitt-Johnstown eventually built the lead to 17 on a pair of free-throws by Nick Novak (Murrysville, Pa.), before going on to the 13-point win.
The Mountain Cats ended the night shooting an impressive 55.6% from the field, 10-22 from three-point range and 12-17 from the free-throw line, while holding the Cardinals to 44.8% shooting. Wheeling Jesuit was also 8-23 from behind the three-point line and 11-13 from the charity stripe.
Branch led all scorers with 30 points on 11-19 shooting, 6-10 from three-point range and 2-5 from the free-throw line. Novak had 20 points, thre rebounds and six assists, while Byer rounded out the double-figures with 12 points and a game-high eight assists. Grubbs finished with five points and seven rebounds and Jordan Miller (Mineral Point, Pa.) collected eight points and five rebounds.
Branch, who connected on six three-pointers against Wheeling Jesuit, moved into fourth-place on Pitt-Johnstown's All-Time Three-Point Field Goals List with 167. He is three away from Nick Mezyk for third-place. Andy Byer's (Tire Hill, Pa.) 129 three-pointers are 12 shy of Dwight Hines for eighth-place on the list.
Catich led Wheeling Jesuit with 18 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Ukwuoma had 16 points, and Suchy and Gaddy scored 14 and 12 points respectively for the Cardinals, who had their five-game winning streak snapped and slipped to 13-7 overall and 10-5 in the WVIAC.
Pitt-Johnstown will host a WVIAC doubleheader against Ohio Valley (WV) University on Monday. The Lady Cats will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. in the Sports Center, followed by the men's game at 7:30 p.m. The Mountain Cats will then travel to Salem International (WV) University on Thursday and to Seton Hill University on Saturday.

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