Box Score
Bill Luther poured in a game-high 26 points, but California University (PA) outscored the Mountain Cats 17-9 over the final seven minutes to erase a one-point deficit and hand Pitt-Johnstown a 74-67 PSAC West road loss, Wednesday night. Â The Mountain Cats fell to 12-12 overall and 5-9 in the conference.
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Luther's jumper gave the Mountain Cats a 21-11 lead eight minutes into the game, before the Vulcans battled back with an 19-7 run to take their first lead of the night at 30-28 on two Tynell Fortune free-throws with 2:04 left in the half.
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Pitt-Johnstown answered to score the last six points of the half, including a bucket from Luther with 37 seconds to give the Mountain Cats a 35-30 halftime advantage.
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It see-sawed back-and-forth most of the second half.Â
A.J. Leahey put Pitt-Johnstown in front 56-52 at 8:52.
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California (PA) cut it to one, before a jumper from
Andrew Cressler gave the Mountain Cats their last lead at 6:43.
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However, the Vulcans closed out the game with 19-7 spurt and hit 5-of-6 free-throws in the last 28 seconds to secure the seven-point victory.
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Luther finished with five 3-pointers and a game-high 26 points to pace three Mountain Cats who scored in double figures.Â
Ian Vescovi had 12 points, six rebounds, and three blocks, while
Jake Laravie had 11 points and five rebounds off the bench.
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The Mountain Cats shot a solid 56.3% (27-48) from the field, 8-19 from behind the 3-point line, and 5-9 from the free-throw line. California (PA) was held to 46.6% (27-58) shooting and 5-18 from 3-point range, but the Vulcans connected on15-21 from the charity stripe.
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Luther is currently 15
th on the Mountain Cat All-Time Scoring List with 1,205 points and third on the career-3-Point Field Goals List with 256.
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Alonzo Murphy had a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Fortune added 14 points to lead five Vulcans who scored in double figures.
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California (PA) improved to 10-15 overall and 5-10 in the PSAC West.
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The Mountain Cats return home to celebrate Senior Day with the Lady Cats against conference rival Gannon University on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. in the Sports Center, before closing out the regular season at Mercyhurst University on Wednesday.