Box Score
Max Kenyi's lay-up and free-throw with 45 seconds left lifted Seton Hill to an 83-80 PSAC Western Division victory over the Mountain Cats, Wednesday night in Greensburg.Â
Bill Luther scored a game-high 24 points, and
Matt Palo added a career-high 18 points for Pitt-Johnstown, which dropped to 10-6 overall and 3-3 in conference-play.
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After
Paul Weatherly's free-throw gave the Mountain Cats an early two-point advantage, Seton Hill used a 21-7 run to build a 28-16 lead on David Winsor's jumper at 8:39
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Pitt-Johnstown then outscored the Griffins 25-11 to regain the lead with under a minute left in the half.
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Palo and
A.J. Leahey combined for Pitt-Johnstown's next 13 points to cut the deficit to 34-29 at the four-minute mark, before Seton Hill quickly extended it back out to 10 on two Kenyi free-throws.
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The Mountain Cats countered again. Luther's third 3-pointer of the first half gave the lead back to the Mountain Cats at 41-39 with 43 seconds remaining, but Kenyi connected for a 3-pointer on Seton Hill's next trip down the floor to put the Griffins in front 42-41 at the half.
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Following three ties and four lead changes to open the second half, the Mountain Cats went up 62-56 on five straight points from
Ian Vescovi.
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Oliver McGlade's 3-pointer cut the Griffins' deficit to 65-62, but Luther came right back with another 3-pointer to give Pitt-Johnstown a 69-62 lead with 10 minutes remaining.
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Pitt-Johnstown held that seven point lead with 6:48 to play, but Seton Hill scored the next nine points to retake the lead 77-75 on Winsor's basket at 3:38.
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It see-sawed back and forth, until Kenyi put the Griffins in front for good with his lay-up and free-throw. Kenyi's lay-up made it 81-80.  He then made a quick steal, was fouled and hit the free-throw. Another free-throw by Seton Hill set the final at 83-80.
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Luther led all scorers with 24 points, including 6-8 from 3-point range, and six rebounds. Palo finished with 18 points and six rebounds, while Vescovi tallied 14 points and eight rebounds.  Pitt-Johnstown also got eight points from
Nate Snodgrass, and seven points from Leahey in then loss.
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Luther is currently 19
th on the Mountain Cat All-Time Scoring List with 1,079 points and third on the career-3-Point Field Goals List with 230.
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The Mountain Cats shot 51.9% (28-54) from the field, 11-20 from behind the 3-point line, and 13-17 from the free-throw line. Seton Hill ended the night shooting 54.4% from the floor with nine 3-pointers. The Griffins were also 12-18 from the charity stripe.
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Kenyi scored 17 points and McGlade collected 16 points to pace four Seton Hill Players who scored in double figures.
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The Griffins made in six wins in their last seven games and improved to 11-4 overall and 3-2 in the PSAC West.
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The Mountain Cats travel to Gannon University for a PSAC game on Wednesday, before hosting a conference doubleheader with the Lady Cats against Mercyhurst University on January 25. The Lady Cats will tip-off at 2 p.m., with the men's game to follow at 4 p.m.