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University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Athletics

PITT-JOHNSTOWN MOUNTAIN CATS

Men's Basketball

Men's Basketball Suffers 97-56 Exhibition Loss at National Power Pittsburgh

10/31/2007

Head Coach Bob Rukavina's Mountain Cat men's basketball team got a treat this Halloween with an exhibition game against Division I national power University of Pittsburgh, Wednesday night at the Peterson Events Center. Senior forward Chris Gilliam (Baltimore, MD) led all scorers with 23 and senior guard Rashad Mintz (Washington, D.C.) added 12 points to lead Pitt Johnstown, but the #20-ranked Panthers built a 49-15 lead and cruised to a 97-56 victory.
The Mountain Cats fell behind 10-3 early, before Matt Ionadi's (Pittsburgh, Pa.) jump shot from the corner cut the lead to 13-8. Pittsburgh answered with a three-pointer from Levance Fields at 12:45 mark to ignite a 36-7 run to close out the first half and give the Panthers a 49-15 lead at halftime.
After being held scoreless for the last 7:34 of the first half, Mintz snapped the scoreless streak with a jumper from the top of the key at the 19:17 mark. That shot seemed to get Pitt Johnstown going. The Mountain Cats regained their composure and shot 51% (20-39) from the floor and scored 41 points in the second half. However, Pittsburgh continued to pad its lead and made it 73-33 with 10:00 to play, before earning the 41- point victory.
Along with his 23 points on 11-19 shooting, Gilliam grabbed three rebounds, while Mintz pulled down four rebounds to go along with his 12 points. Junior forward Marcus Tullis (Johnstown, Pa.) rounded out the Mountain Cats who scored in double figures with 10 points and four rebounds. Sophomore Andy Byer (Tire Hill, Pa.) chipped in five points, and junior William Sharpe (Johnstown, Pa.) and freshman Danny Branch (Washington, D.C.) shared the team lead with five rebounds apiece.
The Panthers wrapped up the night shooting 52.7% (39-74) from the field, 25.0% (4-16) from three-point range and 57.7% (15-26) from the free-throw line, while holding the Mountain Cats to just 35.4% (23-65) from the field and 18.2% (4-22) from behind the three-point line. Pitt Johnstown finished 60.0% (6-10) from the free-throw line. Pittsburgh also held a 54-30 advantage in rebounding.
Sam Young led four Panthers who scored in double figures with 17 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Mike Cook and Fields each scored 13 points and DeJuan Blair had 10 points in the victory.
Pitt Johnstown will open the 2007-08 regular season with the annual Pitt-Johnstown Tip-Off Classic on November 16-17 in the Sports Center.
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