Box Score
Dale Clancy's lay-up with one second left in regulation lifted Pitt-Johnstown to a 71-70 victory over Bloomsburg University in Saturday's PSAC-opener in Bloomsburg. The Mountain Cats improved to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the PSAC Western Division.
Rasaun Mosley's jumper extended Pitt-Johnstown's lead to 61-51 with 6:24 to play. Bloomsburg answered to cut it to two with 1:24 left on Karonn Davis' 3-pointer, and Alex Prislupsky hit a 3-pointer with just 10 second remaining. However, Clancy capped the win with his late bucket.
A.J. Leahey's game-high 25 points and seven rebounds led four Pitt-Johnstown players who scored in double figures.
Isaac Vescovi scored 12 off the bench, while
Levi Masua had 10 points and nine rebounds, and
Jake Laravie collected 10 points.
Rasaun Mosley had seven points and seven rebounds, and Clancy finished with four points, seven rebounds and eight assists for the Mountain Cats.
After falling behind 8-2 on a pair of Christian Mortellite free-throws, Pitt-Johnstown clawed back to tie it at 13 on a Leahey basket and a 3-pointer from Laravie.
Carnell McGirt's jumper at 7:07 put Bloomsburg back in front by five, but the Mountain Cats responded with a 13-5 run over the next five minutes to take their first lead since scoring the game's opening basket. Laravie's lay-up gave the lead back to Pitt-Johnstown, and Leahey knocked down a jumper to increase it to 31-28 with 2:22 left in the half.
Donnell Diggs followed with a bucket for the Huskies, but Pitt-Johnstown was able to hold onto to a slim, 31-30, lead.
The Mountain Cats held the lead and pushed it out to 47-38 seven minutes into the second had on Laravie's 3-pointer.
The Huskies scored the next eight, capped by Davis' conventional 3-point play, but Pitt-Johnstown got a lay-up and free-throw from Vescovi and a Leahey 3-pointer with nine minutes remaining to increase back to eight.
Pitt-Johnstown held that lead until Prislupsky's 3-pointer with 10 seconds to play gave the lead back to Bloomsburg.
With his 25 points and three more 3-pointers, Leahey stands in 20
th-place on the Mountain Cat All-Time Scoring List with 1,099 points in fifth-place on the all-time 3-point field goals list with 179.
The Mountain Cats outrebounded Bloomsburg 39-33 and shot 47.7% (31-65) from the floor, 6-20 from 3-point range and 3-5 from the free-throw line. The Huskies were held to just 39.7% (25-63) shooting. Bloomsburg made 10-24 from behind the 3-point line and 10-14 from the charity stripe.
Prislupsky's 19 points led Bloomsburg, which fell to 2-1 overall and 0-1 in the PSAC Eastern Division. The Huskies also got 11 points from Diggs, 10 points and 10 rebounds from Kyle-Michael Rose, and 10 points from Davis.
The Mountain Cats play at East Stroudsburg on Sunday, before traveling to the Indiana University (PA) Classic over the Thanksgiving break. Pitt-Johnstown will then return home on December 3 and 4 to host PSAC games against Kutztown and Mansfield as part of doubleheaders with the Lady Cats. The women's games will tip-off at 1 p.m. with the men's game to follow at 3 p.m.
