Box Score Nate Snodgrass led Pitt-Johnstown with 25 points, but it was not enough to overcome a second half comeback by West Chester University as the Mountain Cats were defeated in PSAC play 88-82 Saturday inside the Pitt-Johnstown Sports Center.
 
A.J. Leahey and Dale Clancy were also notable contributors, tallying 14 and 12 points respectively. UPJ was limited to just 33 points and made just seven of 25 field goal attempts in the last half as the Mountain Cats fall to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in conference action with the loss.
 
Snodgrass helped the Mountain Cats get out to a 7-3 advantage after he made a jumper at the 18:32 mark of the first half. West Chester then scored five straight points to grab the lead from Pitt-Johnstown when Josh Trumpy completed a layup 2:05 into the game to put his team on top, 8-7.
 
Pitt-Johnstown eventually got out to an 18-11 lead after an alley-oop from Olando King Jr. on an assist from Snodgrass as well as a three-point shot from Snodgrass. Mike Wilson drained a three-pointer for the Golden Rams with 12:09 left in the half to tie the game at 21.
 
Snodgrass and King scored 28 of 49 team points in the first half for UPJ. The team was on point when it came to shooting in the first half, going 54% when shooting from three-point range, 58% in field goal percentage and a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. King ended the game with 20 points, rebounds and two steals.
 
The Mountain Cats' offensive power helped the team get the lead back and conserve it for the rest of the half. Snodgrass collected his twelfth point of the game with 6:34 remaining on a jumper to put Pitt-Johnstown in front 34-27.
 
The team outrebounded West Chester 16-9 in the first half and also had 20 bench points, 13 more than the Golden Rams. Snodgrass gave Pitt-Johnstown a 49-40 lead into halftime after a successful three-point attempt.
 
West Chester went on a 10-4 run in the first five minutes of the second half, trailing 53-50 after completed layup by Matt Wiseley on an assist from Mike Wilson. Pitt-Johnstown soon stretched the lead back out to seven when King was fouled by Wilson and made both free throws, giving the Mountain Cats a 57-50 with 13:22 remaining in the game.
 
The Golden Rams were able to obtain the lead when Trumpy made a layup to put his team ahead 58-57 with 10:58 to go. King got the lead back for Pitt-Johnstown with a three-pointer, but Trumpy was able to tie the game at 60 with a jumper from a Wiseley assist with just over 10 minutes left.
 
A 67-62 lead was built by West Chester when Mike Wilson made both free throws after being fouled by Clancy with 8:12 remaining. After a pair of Snodgrass free throws had the Mountain Cats 67-64, the Golden Rams went on a 10-5 and led 77-69 with 4:11 to go after a three-pointer by Wilson that led to a UPJ timeout.
 
After the timeout, Pitt-Johnstown went on a 9-1 run that was capped off by a three-pointer by Leahey from a Jake Laravie assist, tying the game at 78-78 with 2:22 left. With the game tied at 80-80 with 1:19 left, the Golden Rams pulled away with a jump shot from Wiseley and a layup from Trumpy to build a four-point lead with 25 seconds remaining.
 
Wilson had a game-high 28 points and Wiseley chipped in 21 points and nine rebounds for the Golden Rams, who move to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in conference play.
 
The Mountain Cats are to host a PSAC game against Cheyney University Sunday at 1 p.m. in the Sports Center, before playing seven straight road games beginning at the IUP Indiana Regional Medical Center Classic during Thanksgiving weekend. After Sunday's game, Pitt-Johnstown's next home game is to be against Shippensburg University Jan. 6 as part of a PSAC doubleheader with the Lady Cats.