For the third time in school history, the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Mountain Cat basketball team has earned a bid to the NCAA Division II post-season tournament when the pairings were released Sunday night. Pitt Johnstown, 22-7 and seeded #7 in the East Region, will take on #2-seeded Mount Olive (NC) College in Saturday's opening round 2:30 p.m. at California University (PA). Mount Olive enters the tournament with a 24-6 overall record. This year's East Regional Tournament will be played Saturday, Sunday and next Tuesday with the champion advancing to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, MA, March 26, 27 and 29.
Head Coach Bob Rukavina has posted a 302-111 record in 19 seasons at the helm of the Mountain Cat program. Rukavina, the "winningest" coach in Pitt Johnstown men's basketball history, has led the Mountain Cats to all three of their NCAA Tournament appearances. Rukavina guided Pitt Johnstown to back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths following the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons. The Mountain Cats earned their first-ever bid in 1996-97 after posting a 21-6 record. In 1997-98, Rukavina guided the Mountain Cats to a 24-5 record, a second consecutive NCAA Tournament bid and a school-record 24 wins, before losing in the East Regional Semifinals to eventual Regional Champion Fairmont State (WV) College, 75-74.
The Mountain Cats, regular season champions of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) and post season tournament runner-ups, finished the 2007-08 season with a 22-7 overall record and a 17-3 mark in conference play. Pitt Johnstown closed out the season by winning 10 of its final 12 games, including posting a 2-1 record at the WVIAC Tournament in Charleston, WV. The Mountain Cats defeated Concord (WV) University, 72-68, in the Quarterfinals and West Liberty State (WV) College, 82-72, in the Semifinals, before suffering a 71-64 loss to Alderson-Broaddus (WV) College in the title game on March 1.
Pitt Johnstown is led by senior forward Chris Gilliam (Baltimore, MD), the 2007-08 WVIAC Player of the Year. Overall, Gilliam's 19.7 points and 8.4 rebounds per game lead Pitt Johnstown. Gilliam has 1,726 career points and stands in second place on the Mountain Cat All-time Scoring List, 347 points away from Justin Walther (1996-2000) for the top spot. Gilliam is in third place on the All-Time Rebounding List with 676. He is 199 rebounds shy of Walther for second place on the rebounding list. Junior forward Marcus Tullis (Johnstown, Pa.), a Second Team All-WVIAC choice, is second in scoring (14.2 ppg.) and third in rebounding (5.3 rpg.), while Quinton Davis (Pittsburgh, Pa.), an Honorable Mention All-WVIAC selection, is the team's second leading rebounder (5.7 rpg.) and third leading scorer (13.1 ppg.).
In this week's national statistics, Gilliam ranks 14th in Field Goal Percentage (64.0%), 22nd in Points Per Game (19.7 ppg.) and 55th in Rebounding (8.4 rpg.). William Sharpe (Johnstown, Pa.) is 14th in Steals Per Game at 2.2, 19th in Assists Per Game (5.9 apg.), and 73rd in Assists-To-Turnover-Ratio (1.79 atr.). In addition, Tullis ranks 22nd in Field Goal percentage (61.9%) and Davis is 84th in Assists Per Game at 4.2. As a team, the Mountain Cats lead the nation in Field Goal Percentage for the fifth straight week at 53.1% (878-1654). Pitt Johnstown is also second in Assists Per Game (20.7 apg.), 12th in Assist-To-Turnover-Ratio (1.30 atr.), 31st in Scoring Offense (79.7 ppg.), 31st in Free-Throw Percentage (73.9%), 42nd in Scoring Margin (9.0 ppg.), 46th in Steals Per Game (8.5 spg.), 54th in Three-Point Field Goal Percentage (38.2%), 65th in Blocked shots Per Game (3.7 bpg.), 81st in Rebound margin (2.7 rpg.).
Mount Olive, 24-6, is the Conference Carolinas regular season and tournament champions. The Trojans are coming off of a 90-82 victory over Queens (NC) University of Charlotte in Saturday's Conference Carolinas title game.
EAST REGION SEEDS: #1 California (PA), #2 Mount Olive, #3 Edinboro University, #4 Alderson-Broaddus (WV) College, #5 Cheyney University, #6, Millersville University, #7 Pitt Johnstown and #8 Queens
