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University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Athletics

PITT-JOHNSTOWN MOUNTAIN CATS

Men's Basketball

#20 Mountain Cats Suffer 71-70 Loss at Shippensburg

12/01/2008

Marcus Tullis (Johnstown, Pa.) scored a game-high 23 points and Quinton Davis (Pittsburgh, Pa.) added 21 points, but the #20-ranked Mountain Cat basketball team was not able to hold onto an eight-point second half lead and suffered a 71-70 loss at Shippensburg University, Monday night. Pitt Johnstown slipped to 5-1.
After a 34-34 halftime tie, the Mountain Cats opened up an eight point led three times in the second half, including a 61-53 advantage with 8:12 to play. However, the Red Raiders battled back with a 9-1 run to tie the game for the seventh time at the 4:35 mark. Shippensburg then took a 68-65 lead it would never give up with :31 seconds left on the clock. The Red Raiders sealed the game by hitting three free-throws down the stretch. Davis' three-pointer as time expired set the final score at 71-70.
Tullis led all scorers with 23 points on 9-14 shooting from the field and 5-6 from the free-throw line. Tullis also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, while Davis ended the night with 21 points on 7-10 shooting, including three three-pointers and 4-5 from the charity stripe. Davis collected seven rebounds and a team-high five assists. Danny Branch (Washington, D.C.) chipped in 11 points and five rebounds, and William Sharpe (Johnstown, Pa.) scored eight points and dished out three assits. Head coach Bob Rukavina also got four points, six rebounds and three assists from Patrick Grubbs (Turtle Creek, Pa.) in the loss.
With his 23 points, Tullis moved into a tie for with Chuck Bradford (1976-80) for 13th place on the Mountain Cat All-Time Scoring List with 1,078 points. He is now 32 points shy of Paul Byer (2002-05) for 12th place on the scoring list. After scoring 21 points against Shippensburg, Davis is 34 points away from becoming the 20th Mountain Cat to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
The Mountain Cats shot 44.6% (25-56) with nine three-pointers and 68.8% (11-16) from the free-throw line. Pitt-Johnstown held the Red Raides to 21-50 (42.0%) shooting. Shippensburg also hit nine three-pointers and connected on 20-28 (71.4%) of its free-throws. Both teams had 34 rebounds and 14 turnovers.
Stephon Draper led five Red Raiders who scored in double figures with 18 points. Derrick Graff had 15 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, while Brian Oleksiak tallied 11 points and Ryan Kraft and Justin Minter netted 10 points apiece. Shippensburg remained undefeated and improved to 4-0.
Pitt-Johnstown travels to Ohio Valley (WV) University for a WVIAC game on Thursday, before breaking for Finals Week and traveling to Clarion University on Dec. 15. The Mountain Cats will play their next home game on Jan. 10, when WVIAC rival Fairmont State (WV) University visits the Sports Center for a 7:30 p.m. tip off.
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