Pitt-Johnstown scored the first eight points and pushed its lead out to 15 midway through the first half, but The University of the Sciences slowly clawed back and completed the comeback with a 71-69 win on a pair of free-throw with seven seconds remaining, Sunday afternoon in the Sports Center.  Isaac Vescovi's had a game-high 23 points and Josh Wise added 21 points for the Mountain Cats, who slipped to 2-3.
 
Six straight points from Vescovi and a basket by Dale Clancy put the Mountain Cats in front 8-0 to start, before Wise's jumper at 13:55 pushed the lead into double digits.
 
Pitt-Johnstown then extended it to 23-8 on Vescovi's lay-up at 10:46.
 
Two Flo Da Silva free-throws and Will Gregorits' bucket with 6:38 left in the half got The Sciences to within eight, but Pitt-Johnstown extended its back to 15 at 34-19 at the five-minute mark on five points from Vescovi and a basket in the paint from Levi Masua.
 
The Devils went on to outscore the Mountain Cats 11-2 the rest of the way to cut the deficit to 36-30 at the half back-to-back baskets from Gregorits.
 
The Sciences kept the momentum to begin the second half and extended the run to 23-8 to knot it at 42 on Brendan Crawford's bucket with 15:29 to play.
 
Pitt-Johnstown recovered to rebuilt the lead to 50-42 and got a basket from Clancy midway through the second half that kept the lead at eight.
 
However, the Devils wouldn't go away and took their first lead of the day at 58-57 on Da Silva's layup at 8:26.
 
Neither team held a lead larger than three the rest of the way.  After Wise tied it a 69 with 33 seconds on the clock, Crawford hit two free-throws with seven seconds left to give The Sciences a 71-69 lead.  Pitt-Johnstown had a chance to win it, but Wise's 3-pointer as time expired would not fall and the Devils held on the for two-point victory.
 
Vescovi had 23 points on 9-13 shooting and nine rebounds, and Wise collected 21 points and four rebounds to lead the Mountain Cats.  Clancy had nine points and six assists, while Masua had six points, seven rebounds, and four assists, and Romano Sebastiani chipped-in six points off of the bench.
 
Pitt-Johnstown, which was outrebounded 39-26, shot 44.8% (26-58) from the field, 7-21 from 3-point range, and a perfect 10-10 from the free-throw line.  The Devils ended the day shooting 49.1% (30-61) from the floor, 3-11 from behind the 3-point line, and 8-12 from the charity stripe.
 
Gregorits' 20 points and game-high 15 rebounds paced three Devils who scored in double figures.  Da Silva had 18 points, six rebounds, and six assists, and Paddy Casey added 16 points and eight rebounds, for the Sciences, who improved to 4-3.
 
Pitt-Johnstown will host a non-conference game against Carlow on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Sports Center, before traveling to PSAC games at Cheyney and Millersville next weekend.