Box Score
Matt Palo scored 20 points to help the Mountain Cats battle back from a 14-point second half deficit, but West Chester went on to hold off Pitt-Johnstown, 81-75, in Saturday's PSAC Crossover in West Chester.  Pitt-Johnstown fell to 6-6 overall and 3-5 in the PSAC Western Division.
 
Pitt-Johnstown started fast and hit their first four 3-pointers, including a pair from Rich Audu, to race out to a 15-6 lead.
 
West Chester stormed back with a 29-10 run of its own, keyed by seven consecutive points from Cory Blake, to build a double-digit advantage.  Avery Brown's steal and dunk knotted it at 22 at the 11-minute mark, before Brown's 3-pointer with 5:23 left in the half capped the run and put the Golden Rams in front 35-25.
 
A.J. Leahey connected on a 3-pointer and Palo scored two straight buckets to get the Mountain Cats to with three at 35-32 1:21 later, but West Chester pushed it back out to seven on Mike Wilson's 3-pointer and went into the halftime break leading 40-35.
 
The Golden Rams kept the momentum and started the second half with an 11-4 spurt to extend it to 51-39 on Thomas White's lay-up and free-throw, before Leahey's 3-pointer cut Pitt-Johnstown's deficit to 53-45 at the first media timeout.
 
Raheem Hall's basket extended the West Chester lead to 61-47, before the Mountain Cats answered with an 11-0 run to make it 61-58 with 11:29 to play on Dale Clancy's 3-pointer.
 
The Mountain Cats completed the comeback and tied it at 66 on two Palo free-throws at 7:56, before regaining the lead on Audu's jumper on Pitt-Johnstown's next possession.
 
It stayed close the rest of the way and featured four ties and six lead changes until Ben Mingledough's basket with 49 seconds remaining put the Golden Rams up 78-75.  West Chester went on to hit three of its four free-throws in the final 18 seconds to secure the six-point victory.
 
Palo's 20 points and five rebounds and Leahey's 12 points and five rebounds paced Pitt-Johnstown.  The Mountain Cats also got 13 points from Audu and 10 points off the bench from Levi Masua in the loss.
 
In a game that featured 50 personal fouls and 63 free-throws, the Mountain Cats were held to 39% (23-59) shooting from the floor, including 10-30 from 3-point range.  West Chester shot 53.3% (24-45) from the field and 4-9 from behind the 3-point line.  However, the Golden Rams made 29-of-35 from the free-throw line, while Pitt-Johnstown was 19-28.
 
Blake's game-highs of 25 points and 10 rebounds and Mingledough's 14 points led four West Chester players who scored in double figures.
 
The Golden Rams made it three straight wins and improved to 6-7 overall and 4-4 in the PSAC East.
 
The Mountain Cats travel to a PSAC Crossover game at Cheyney on Sunday, before returning home to host a conference crossover doubleheader with the Lady Cats against Millersville on Wednesday.  The Lady Cats will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. in the Sports Center, followed by the men's game at 7:30 p.m.