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University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Athletics

PITT-JOHNSTOWN MOUNTAIN CATS

Men's Basketball

Mountain Cats Fall 88-77 at Slippery Rock

Slippery Rock, PA

Box Score
Ian Vescovi scored a game-high 23 points, but Slippery Rock University built a 14-point first half advantage and made 22-23 from the free-throw line, including eight straight in the final minute, to hand the Mountain Cats an 88-77 PSAC Western Division Road loss on Saturday.  Pitt-Johnstown slipped to 12-10 overall and 5-7 in the conference.
 
Josh Martin's 3-pointer capped a 17-2 Slippery Rock run that put The Rock in front 24-10 midway through the first half.
 
Pitt-Johnstown was able to recover and narrow the gap to six at the half.
 
A 3-pointer from Bill Luther quickly made it a 10-point game, before five straight points off the bench from Jake Laravie and a free-throw from Vescovi cut it to 34-28 at 3:34.
 
Slippery Rock extended it back out to nine, but Nate Snodgrass connected on two free-throws with a second left to get Pitt-Johnstown to get the deficit down to 41-35 at the break.
 
The Mountain Cats kept the momentum and outscored Slippery Rock 10-0 to start the second half and regain the lead 45-41 on a Paul Weatherly basket.
 
The Rock countered with an 11-4 spurt to go up 52-49 at the 13-minute mark on back-to-back Antonio Butler 3-pointers.
 
It stayed close the rest of the way.  Two free-throws from Maurice Lewis-Briggs gave Slippery Rock a seven advantage with 3:26 to play, before Weatherly's 3-pointer cut it to 72-68 on Pitt-Johnstown's next possession.
 
Sa'Quan Davis then hit a 3-pointer that The Rock up 80-72 at 1:17, before Slippery Rock hit eight straight free-throws in the final 48 seconds to seal the win.
 
Vescovi led all scorers with 23 points and five rebounds.  Luther tallied 13 points, while Matt Palo chipped in 11 points and six rebounds.  The Mountain Cats also got nine points apiece from Adam Shaheen and Weatherly in the loss.
 
Luther is currently 16th on the Mountain Cat All-Time Scoring List with 1,164 points and third on the career-3-Point Field Goals List with 249.
 
Pitt-Johnstown ended the day shooting 45.8% (27-59) from the floor, 6-15 from behind the 3-point line, and 17-25 from the free-throw line.  The Rock shot 48.3% (28-58) from the field, 10-21 from 3-point range, and 22-23 from the charity stripe.
 
Lewis-Briggs had 17 points and eight rebounds, and Butler tallied 16 points and six rebounds to pace four Slippery Rock players who scored in double figures.
 
With the win, The Rock improved to 17-7 overall and 8-4 in the PSAC West.
 
The Mountain Cats host a PSAC doubleheader with the Lady Cats against Seton Hill on Saturday, starting at 1 p.m. at the Sports Center, before traveling to California (PA) for another conference game on February 19.
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