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University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Athletics

PITT-JOHNSTOWN MOUNTAIN CATS

Men's Basketball

#17 Mountain Cats Suffer 70-63 Loss at Clarion

12/15/2008

Marcus Tullis (Johnstown, Pa.) scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds, but the #17-ranked Mountain Cat basketball team was outscored 43-36 in the second half and suffered a 70-63 loss at Clarion University, Monday night. Pitt-Johnstown slipped to 6-2 on the season.
The Mountain Cats and Golden Eagles battled to a 27-27 halftime tie, but Clarion shot 51.7% in the second half to earn the victory. Pitt-Johnstown climbed out to an early 14-3 lead on Patrick Grubbs' (Turtle Creek, Pa.) jumper 5:30 into the game, but the Golden Eagles clawed their way back to even the score at the half when Josh Yanke's layup fell as time expired. Clarion came out in the second half and outscored the Mountain Cats 17-2 to build a 44-29 lead with 11:55 to play. Pitt-Johnstown cut the lead to 62-55 on Andy Byer's (Tire Hill, Pa.) three-pointer with :47 left on the clock, but that was as close as Pitt-Johnstown would get.
Along with Tullis' 18 points and eight rebounds, Byer added 13 points, including two three-pointers and 5-6 from the free-throw line, and Danny Branch (Washington, D.C.) chipped in 11 points and five rebounds. Quinton Davis (Pittsburgh, Pa.) tallied six points to move within 11 points of reaching the 1,000-point mark and tied Tullis for team-high in rebounds with eight. Head coach Bob Rukavina also got six points and six rebounds from Grubbs, and five points, five rebounds and five assists from William Sharpe (Johnstown, Pa.) in the loss.
With his 18 points, Tullis, jumped Paul Byer (2002-05) and moved into 12th place on the Mountain Cat All-Time Scoring List 1,115 points. Tullis is now 30 points away from Dwight Hines (2002-07) for 11th place and 37 points away from Don Elzer (1973-77) for 10th place on the scoring list. With his six points, Davis is now 11 points shy of becoming the 20th Mountain Cat to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Davis also ranks 10th on the Pitt-Johnstown All-Time Assists List with 275 assists.
The Mountain Cats finished the night shooting a season-low 37.7% (23-61) from the field. Pitt-Johnstown was also 6-21 from three-point range and 11-20 from the free-throw line. The Golden Eagles, who out rebounded the Mountain Cats 44-41, shot 40.3% (27-67) from the field with six three-pointers. Clarion also made 10 of its 14 free-throws.
Marcus Robinson scored a game-high 19 points to lead four Golden Eagles who scored in double figures. Yanke (17 points), Damon Gross (12 points) and Mike Sherry (10 points) also scored in double figures. Gross and Yanke pulled down 10 rebounds apiece for Clarion, which improved to 4-2.
Pitt-Johnstown will break for the holidays, before tipping off the spring semester with WVIAC games at Shepherd (WV) University on Jan.3 and at West Virginia Wesleyan College on Jan. 6. 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 as part of a double header with the Lady Cats.
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