Box Score
Millersville cut a 19-point deficit to two in the second half, but the Mountain Cats recovered and went on to hold off Millersville 81-73, in Wednesday's PSAC Crossover in the Sports Center.  Matt Palo's 17 points led five Pitt-Johnstown players who scored in double figures.  The Mountain Cats improved to 8-6 overall and 5-5 in the PSAC West.
 
The Mountain Cats broke open a tie game with a 22-7 run over a span of eight minutes to build a 15 point lead midway through the first half.
 
After Ian Vescovi's free-throws tied it at five, Pitt-Johnstown took control and made it 22-12 on a Dale Clancy bucket, before the Mountain Cats closed the run and extended it to 27-12 on Clancy's 3-pointer at 9:47.
 
Sam Light's 3-pointer two minutes later cut Millersville's deficit to eight, but the Mountain Cats quickly pushed it back out to 13 on a Palo lay-up, before going into the halftime break leading 37-27.
 
The Mountain Cats started fast in the second half.  Five points from Rich Audu and a basket each from Palo and Vescovi capped a 9-0 Pitt-Johnstown run that increased the lead to 19.
 
The Marauders answered with an 20-5 run over the next five minutes, capped by Kelvin Parker's lay-up, to narrow the gap to 51-47 with 10:51 remaining.
 
Back-to-back jumpers from Jake Laravie and Clancy and two Laravie free-throws rebuilt the Mountain Cat lead to 10 at the nine-minute mark.
 
Millersville scored the next eight to cut it to 59-57 on Parker's 3-pointer, but the Mountain Cats would not them the Marauders any closer.
 
Pitt-Johnstown never let Millersville get any closer.  Palo's lay-up increased it to 65-59 at 5:48, and Pitt-Johnstown went on to seal the win by hitting 9-of 12 free-throws down the stretch.
 
Palo's 17 points and five rebounds paced five Mountain Cats who scored in double figures.  Audu had 14 points, while A.J. Leahey collected a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds.  Vescovi scored a dozen points and pulled down nine rebounds, while Clancy finished with 12 points off the bench.
 
The Mountain Cats shot 54.5% (24-44) from the floor, 8-16 from 3-point range and a solid 25-33 from the free-throw line.  Pitt-Johnstown held the Marauders to just 38.2% (26-68) shooting, including just 6-28 from behind the 3-point line.  Millersville was also 15-19 from the charity stripe.
 
Parker finished with a game-high 26 points and seven rebounds, and Light tallied 15 points for the Marauders, who slipped to 6-9 overall and 3-7 in the PSAC East.
 
The Mountain Cats will host a PSAC doubleheader with the Lady Cats against Gannon on January 14 beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Sports Center, before traveling to a conference game at Mercyhurst on January 17.