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University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Athletics

PITT-JOHNSTOWN MOUNTAIN CATS

Men's Basketball

Mountain Cats Extend Nation's Longest Winning Streak to 12 Games with 74-61 Win Over Mansfield; Head Coach Bob Rukavina Earns Victory #250 at Pitt Johnstown

01/11/2006

Head Coach Bob Rukavina earned his 250th career win at Pitt Johnstown as the Mountain Cats extended the nation's longest winning streak to 12 straight games with a 74-61 victory over Mansfield University Wednesday night in the Sports Center. Sophomore forward Chris Gilliam (Baltimore, MD) scored a game-high 25 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead Pitt Johnstown, now 12-2 on the year.
Coach Rukavina, the "winningest" men's basketball coach in school history, is now 250-191 in 17 seasons at Pitt Johnstown. He has also guided his Mountain Cats to a pair of NCAA Tournament bids.
Gilliam, the nation's leader in field goal percentage and one of the top scorers in Division II, finished 10-14 from the field and 5-5 from the free-throw line to lead three Mountain Cats who scored in double figures. Red-shirt freshmen forwards Marcus Tullis (Johnstown, Pa.) and Kyle Goldcamp (Pittsburgh, Pa.) each added 13 points, while Goldcamp pulled down a team-high eight rebounds and blocked two shots off of Coach Rukavina's bench. Senior guard Steve Scorpion (Murrysville, Pa.) chipped in nine points, including 7-8 from the free-throw line. Scorpion enters Saturday's game at Concord (WV) University four three-point field goals shy of tying Matt Lushko's (1993-97) school record of 165 career three-pointers. Junior guard J.J. Schumacher (Castle Shannon, Pa.) collected six points, six rebounds and five assists in the victory.
Pitt Johnstown built a 38-33 halftime lead, but Mansfield battled back to take a 43-38 lead with 16:46 to play in the game. However, Pitt Johnstown quickly erased that lead and built their own 15-point on four occasions in the second half, before going on to the 13-point win.
The Mountain Cats, ranked #2 in the country in field Goal Percentage Defense, held the Mountaineers to just 36.9% (24-65) shooting from the field, while hitting 26 of their 58 shots for 44.8%. The Mountain Cats were also 22-27 (81.5%) from the free-throw line. Mansfield was 10-15 (66.7%) from the free-throw line.
Carlos Collazo's 14 points and game-high 10 rebounds led Mansfield. David Hoopes scored 12 points and Terrance Williams had eight points and seven rebounds for the Mountaineers, who fell to 5-7 on the season.
Pitt Johnstown travels to Concord (WV) University on Saturday to begin a string of five straight road games. The Moutnain Cats will play their next home game on Saturday, February 4 at 7:30 p.m. when West Chester University visits the Sports Center.
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