Box Score
A.J. Leahey had a game-high 25 points and 13 rebounds but was not able to sink a three-pointer with three seconds left, giving Bowie State (MD) University a 93-90 win over the Mountain Cats in each team's first game of the season. The non-conference game was part of the 2015 S&T Bank Atlantic Region Challenge in Indiana.
 
It wasn't until 1:26 into the game that the first point was scored after a free throw by Dale Clancy gave Pitt-Johnstown the first lead. Bowie State, however, was able to answer and build a 4-3 advantage when Jordan Goodman drained a layup with 17:02 left in the first half.
 
The Mountain Cats regained the lead with two more Clancy free throws at the 15:36 mark. Clancy ended the game with 21 points, five assists and five rebounds.
 
From that point on, Pitt-Johnstown went on a 13-4 run in a 3:29 span that built an 18-8 lead after a defensive rebound and three-pointer by Leahey.
 
Bowie State was not able to break the Mountain Cat advantage until there was 9:43 remaining in the half when Miles Jackson drained a layup to give the Bulldogs a 24-23 advantage. The lead changed six more times before the first half's seven minute mark.
 
Bowie State's Jordan Goodman hit a three-pointer that put the Bulldogs ahead 32-30 with 7:21 left in the first. Rich Audu then drained a free throw for Pitt-Johnstown, cutting Bowie State's lead to one with seven minutes remaining. Audu tallied four points in 11 minutes of action.
 
The Bulldogs answered back by going on a 12-2 run that pushed them to a 44-33 advantage with 3:40 to go in the half. Pitt-Johnstown cut the lead to seven after a layup by Olando King, trailing 47-40 with less than three minutes to go in the half. King contributed 15 points and six rebounds in his first collegiate game of his career.
 
The Mountain Cats could not close the gap in the first half, largely due to Bowie State's Justin Beck sinking a three-pointer and a layup within the final three minutes of the half, giving the Bulldogs a 55-46 lead into halftime.
 
Bowie State stretched their lead to 12 points in the second half's opening minutes after Beck hit a jumper, making the score 65-53 in the Bulldog's favor.
 
Clancy followed the jumper with a three-pointer to cut the lead to nine points with 16:12 left. Pitt-Johnstown scored seven more points to get within two when King sunk another shot from beyond the arc to make the score 68-66.
 
It took almost seven more minutes for the Mountain Cats to tie the game at 74-74 when Issac Vescovi hit a layup assisted by Clancy with 9:31 left in the game. Vescovi finished with 12 points and five assists.
 
The Bulldogs were able to maintain the lead the rest of the way. They were able to stretch the lead back out to eight points with 3:14 remaining when Beck hit a pair of free throws, but Leahey was able to drain a three-pointer to cut the advantage down to five points.
 
Clancy followed up with a pair of free throws and a layup with 57 seconds left to make it 89-88 Bowie State. As time winded down, Beck was 4-for-4 from the free throw line to give the Bulldogs the victory.
Bowie State outperformed the Mountain Cats in team shooting as the Bulldogs made exactly half of their total shots and 52% of three-point field goals along with shooting 81% from the free throw line. While Pitt-Johnstown made 73% of total free throws, the team shot just 39% from beyond the arc and 47% overall.
 
Both Goodman and Beck led the Bulldogs with 22 points each. Goodman also tallied seven rebounds and six assists while Beck had five rebounds for Bowie State, who advanced to 1-0 overall to start its season.
 
The Mountain Cats are to close out the 2015 S&T Bank Atlantic Region Challenge on Saturday against Urbana (Ohio) University, before returning home for a PSAC game against California University (Pa.) on Wednesday.