Box Score

Isaac Vescovi scored 19 points and Josh Wise added 14 points and a career-high eight rebounds, but second-seeded Gannon University turned a 52-52 tie with 12:55 to play into a 77-67 victory to eliminate third-seeded Pitt-Johnstown in Wednesday's 2017 PSAC Men's Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals at the Hammermill Center in Erie.  The Mountain Cats slipped to 19-11.
 
Rasaun Mosley's jumper followed by a Jake Laravie 3-pointer gave Pitt-Johnstown an early 3-point advantage, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Zay Jackson capped a 12-4 Gannon run to put the Golden Knights in front 16-11 nine minutes into the game.
 
The Mountain Cats got a lift from Wise, who knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and scored 10 first half points, to help Pitt-Johnstown erase the deficit and open-up five-point lead of its own.
 
Wise's 3-pointer sparked a 13-2 run over the next five minutes to narrow it to three, before Dale Clancy's lay-up gave the lead back to the Mountain Cats by one.  Pitt-Johnstown then got 3-pointers from Clancy and Vescovi to cap the run and give the Mountain Cats a 31-26 lead at the 4:20 mark.
 
The Golden Knights answered to regain the lead by two on Jackson's 3-pointer, and Jackson fifth 3-pointer off the half as time expired made it 38-34.
 
Pitt-Johnstown came out in the second half and got consecutive 3-pointers from A.J. Leahey, Clancy, and Vescovi to knot it at 52 at the 12:55 mark, but Gannon scored the next eight to take a 60-52 lead on Damon Miraud's bucket and two Matthew Dogan free-throws.
 
Laravie's 3-pointer at 4:20 cut it to 67-63, but Gannon went on to outscore the Mountain Cats, 10-4 the rest of the way to earn a spot in Saturday's PSAC Semifinals.
 
Vescovi's 19 points and Wise's 14 points and eight rebounds paced four Mountain Cats who scored in double figures.  Clancy had 12 points and eight assists, while Laravie tallied nine points and grabbed four rebounds.
 
Leahey is sixth on the Mountain Cat All-Time Scoring List with 1,539 points, tied for fourth with Chris Gilliam (2004-08) on the all-time rebounding list with 699, and fourth on the 3-point field goals list with 240.  Clancy stands in 28^th-place on the all-time scoring list with 1,012 points and in eighth-place on the Mountain Cat All-Time Assists List with 391.
 
Pitt-Johnstown outshot Gannon 50.0% (25-50) to 46.2% (30-65), but the Golden Knights held a 40-23 advantage on the glass and turned 18 offensive rebounds into 19 points.  Pitt-Johnstown was 10-26 from 3-point range and 7-9 from the free-throw line, while Gannon shot 7-17 from behind the 3-point line and 10-13 from the charity stripe.
 
Jackson's 22 points (6 3-pointers) led all scorers.  Miraud had a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Evan Phoenix collected 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Golden Knights, who improved to 18-9.
 
Gannon advances to take on top-seed in the East Kutztown University in one of Saturday's PSAC Semifinals at the Kovalchick Center on the IUP campus.