Box Score
Gannon University outscored the Mountain Cats by 19 over the final 14 minutes of the second half to erase an eight-point deficit and deal the Mountain Cats a 75-64 PSAC Western Division loss, Saturday afternoon on Senior Day in the Sports Center.Â
A.J. Leahey scored a game-high 17 points off the bench to lead the Mountain Cats, who dropped their fourth straight game and fell to 12-13 overall and 5-10 in the conference.
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Prior to the game, Pitt-Johnstown recognized this year's seniors…
Andrew Cressler,
Paul Weatherly, and
Bill Luther.
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Gannon opened-up up a15-7 lead on a Matthew Dogan 3-pointer midway through the first half, but the Mountain Cats responded with a 12-2 run over the next four minutes to go in front by two.
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A pair of 3-pointers from Leahey and one from
Adam Shaheen gave Pitt-Johnstown a one-point advantage, before another bucket from Shaheen made it 19-17 with 5:54 left in the half.
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The Golden Knights knotted it at 28 on a pair of Adam Blazek free-throws at 1:06, but Luther connected on third 3-pointer of the first half as time expired to put Pitt-Johnstown up 31-28 at the half.
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Five points from Cressler and another Luther 3-pointer sparked a 12-7 Mountain Cat run to start the second half that extended the lead to 43-35.
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Pitt-Johnstown still had the eight-point lead with 13:45 left, but Gannon answered to outscore 36-17 the rest of the way to earn the 11-point victory.
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Gannon battled back to tie it at 49 on A'Darius Porter's put-back at 10:09, before Blazek's jumper gave the lead back the Golden Knights 1:30 later.
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Two late Girbran Smith free-throws gave Gannon its largest lead of the day at 14, before Leahey's 3-pointer set the final at 75-64.
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Leahey's 17 points, including 5-8 from 3-point range led foru Mountain Cats who scored in double figures. Luther finished with 15 points, while Cressler and
Ian Vescovi each had 11 points. Vescovi also pulled down a team-high five rebounds in the loss.
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Luther is currently 15
th on the Mountain Cat All-Time Scoring List with 1,220 points and third on the career-3-Point Field Goals List with 260.
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Pitt-Johnstown was held to 40.4% (23-57) shooting for the day. The Mountain Cats did hit 11-29 from behind the 3-point line and 7-12 from the free-throw line. Gannon, which held a 40-24 advantage in rebounding, shot 52.4% (22-42) from the floor, 2-4 from 3-point range, and 29-34 from the charity stripe.
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Raphell Thomas-Edwards scored 15 points and Porter added a double-double of 13 [points and 13 rebounds to pace four Gannon players who scored in double figures.
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With the win, Gannon improved to 18-8 overall and 13-3 in the PSAC West.
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The Mountain Cats close out the regular season at Mercyhurst University on Wednesday, before opening the 2014 PSAC Tournament against an opponent and at a site to be determined.