Mountain Cats Roar Back for 69-58 Win Over Mansfield

02/19/2007

Junior forward Chris Gilliam (Baltimore, MD) poured in a game-high 18 points to help the Mountain Cat basketball team erase a 16-point deficit and lead Pitt Johnstown to a 69-58 win over visiting Mansfield University in Monday's final home game of the 2006-07 season. With the win, Head Coach Bob Rukavina's team improved to 19-7.
Mansfield pulled out to three 16-point first half leads, before taking a 41-26 halftime lead. However, the Mountain Cats roared back to outscore the Mountaineers 43-17 in the second half. Pitt Johnstown climbed back to tie the game 54-54 with 5:56 to play. The Mountain Cats finally took the lead at the 5:03 mark on sophomore guard William Sharpe's (Johnstown, Pa.) jump shot and never gave up that lead.
Gilliam finished 7-10 from the field and 4-6 from the free-throw line. Gilliam also pulled down eight rebounds, while senior guard Dwight Hines (Aliquippa, Pa.) and Sharpe added 11 points apiece. Coach Rukavina also got nine points and six rebounds from sophomore guard Quinton Davis (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and eight points, 10 rebounds and a career-high six blocks from sophomore forward Marcus Tullis (Johnstown, Pa.) Senior guard J.J. Schumacher (Castle Shannon, Pa.) chipped in five points, four rebounds and a game-high nine assists in the come-from-behind victory.
Hines now stands in 11th place on the Mountain Cat All-Time Scoring List with 1.097 points, while Gilliam is just three-points behind him in 12th place on the scoring list with 1,094 career points. Schumacher moved into fourth place on the All-Time Assist List with 399 assists.
The Mountain Cats, who shot just 38.7% in the first half, improved to finish the game shooting 43.5% (27-62) from the field. Mansfield was held to just 33.3% (22-66) shooting from the field. The Mountain Cats also connected on 11 of their 16 free-throws. The Mountaineers were 7-13 (53.8%) from the free-throw line and 7-22 (31.8%) from three-point range.
Kevin Hill (14 points) and Javoun Webb (10 points) led Mansfield in scoring, while Brandon Lawley pulled down a team-high nine rebounds for the Mountaineers, who dropped to 9-16 on the season.
The Mountain Cats finish the 2006-07 regular season by traveling to Lock Haven University on Wednesday and to the National Independent Tournament in Fort Myers, FL from February 25-27 where they will take on Georgia Southern State University in Sunday's first round.

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