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University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Athletics

PITT-JOHNSTOWN MOUNTAIN CATS

Men's Basketball

Mountain Cats Defeat Salem for Fourth Straight Win

01/29/2009

Marcus Tullis (Johnstown, Pa.) scored 17 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to help the Mountain Cat basketball team pull away from a halftime tie and earn a 76-67 win at Salem International (WV) University, Thursday night. Pitt-Johnstown made it for straight wins and raised its record to 13-4 overall and 9-2 in the WVIAC.
After Salem International opened up a 14-8 lead on Travis Sinclair's basket at 14:15, Pitt Johnstown used a 14-7 run over the next 5:40, ended by Steve Heidenthal's (Clymer, Pa.) free-throw, to regain the lead 22-21. The lead see-sawed back and forth before William Sharpe's (Johnstown, Pa.) jumper knotted the game for the eighth time and closed the half with the score 35-35.
The game remained close, but Pitt-Johnstown outscored the Tigers 12-3 over a span of 5:15 to build a 59-50 on Danny Branch's (Washington, D.C.) dunk with 7:51 to play. Salem International never got closer the six the rest of the way. Matt Ionadi's (Pittsburgh, Pa.) bucket with 4:40 to play gave the Mountain Cats their largest lead of the game at 65-55, and Pitt-Johnstown went on to hold off the Tigers by nine.
Tullis led four Mountain Cats who scored in double figures with 17 points on 7-10 shooting from the field and 3-4 from the charity strike. His 10 rebounds tied for game-high, while Branch added 13 points, including three three-pointers, and five rebounds, and Ionadi chipped in 11 points and five rebounds. Quinton Davis (Pittsburgh, Pa.) rounded out the double figure scorers with 10 points and eight rebounds. Head coach Bob Rukavina also got nine points from Andy Byer (Tire Hill, Pa.) and eight points, five rebounds and three assists from Patrick Grubbs (Turtle Creek, Pa.). Sharpe finished with seven points and a game-high seven assists.
Tullis currently ranks eighth on the Pitt-Johnstown scoring list with 1,250 points and 11th on the rebounding list with 509. Tullis is one point away from Eugene Wilson (1998-03) for seventh place on the scoring list and three reboudns away from Glenn Fisher (1976-81) on the rebounding list. Davis is in 11th place on the Mountain Cat All-Time Scoring List (1,155 points), eighth on the rebounding list (525 rebounds) and eighth on the all-time assist list with 304. Davis needs 19 points to tie Tyrone Doleman (1986-88) for 10th place place on the scoring list. He is also 31 rebounds shy of Carlos Cogsdell (2001-05) for eighth place on the rebounding list and 27 assists away from Joey Tutchstone (2003-06) for seventh place on the assists list. Sharpe stands in fourth place on the assist list with 420, just fthree assists shy of Michael Black (1974-78) for third place.
The Mountain Cats shot an impressive 55.6% (30-54) from the field, while holding Salem International to just 36.1% (22-61) shooting, including just 8-31 from behind the three-point line. Pitt-Johnstown, which out rebounded the Tigers 37-27, connected on 6-19 from three-point range and 10-15 from the free-throw line. Salem International was 15-18 from the charity stripe.
Chris Carey scored a game-high 24 points to lead Salem International. Demetrick Walker chipped in 18 points and 10 rebounds, and sinclair ended with 10 points for the Tigers, who dropped to 2-14 overall and 2-8 in league play.
The Mountain Cats host a WVIAC doubleheader with the Lady Cats against Seton Hill University on Saturday. The Lady Cats tip-off at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men's game at 7:30 p.m.
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