The Pitt-Johnstown Mountain Cats trailed Mercyhurst for the first 38 minutes, including by 12 at the midway point of the second half, but rallied behind Josh Wise's 23 points for 67-64 PSAC victory, Saturday afternoon in the Sports Center.  Wise led four Mountain Cats who scored in double figures to help Pitt-Johnstown improve to 7-8 overall and 5-6 in conference-play.
 
Mercyhurst quickly jumped out to an early 9-0 lead on a bucket by Lorenzo Collier two minutes in.  The Mountain Cats got back in it on Wise's mid-range jumper, before his 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to get Pitt-Johnstown back to within three at 13-10.
 
Pitt-Johnstown continued the comeback, getting it back to two points after a Levi Mausa layup at 9:21.  The Lakers countered with mini 5-0 run, powered by Malcolm Walters' jumper from the foul line and a 3-pointer that gave the Lakers a 36-28 halftime lead.
 
The Lakers opened up a 12-point lead nine minutes into the second half on Collier's basket to make it, 40-28.  The Mountain Cats ended the run when Josh Wise hit a floater in the lane. Mercyurst maintained the 12-point lead until Masua found an open Dale Clancy, knocked down a 3-pointer with 11:26 remaining.
 
Clancy continued his hot shooting with a 3-pointer from the corner that cut it 46-40 Lakers, before another Clancy 3-pointer got the Mountain cats to within three at 50-47 at 8:01.
 
With 5:16 remaining in the game, Lakers forward Patrick Smith hit a pair of free-throws to extend the Lakers lead to 58-51. From there the Mountain Cats found it from long range, Wise, Clancy and Vescovi combined to hit four 3-pointers to cut into the Mercyhurst lead, 62-60. Then, Clancy knocked down an open jumper to tie it up with 1:55 remaining.
 
Masua hit a free-throw with 1:13 left that gave the Mountain Cats their first lead of the game, 63-62. With 21 seconds left, and the shot clock winding down, Clancy scored in the paint that extended it 65-62.  After a Smith layup with four second left, Isaac Vescovi sealed the win with a pair of free-throws.
 
The Mountain Cats ended the game with four double-digit scores.  Along with Wise's 23 points, Pitt-Johnstown also got 15 points and nine rebounds from Vescovi.  Masua had 12 points, six rebounds, and five assists, and Clancy finished with 10 points, four rebounds, and five assists for the Mountain Cats.
 
Clancy currently stands in 14^th-place on the Mountain Cat All-Time Scoring List (1,253 points), fourth on the assists list (457), and fifth on the 3-point field goals list (194).  Vescovi is 21^st-place on the Pitt-Johnstown Scoring List with 1,137 points.
 
In the second half, Pitt-Johnstown shot 50% (7-14) from behind the arc compared to Mercyhurst's 0-6 shooting from behind the 3-point line. Overall the Mountain Cats shot 49% (24-49) compared to Mercyhurst's 42.1% (24-57).
 
The Lakers, which fell to 7-7 overall and 4-6 in the PSAC, were led by Collier's game-high 24 points.  Smith and a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Malcom Walters tallied 12 points and five rebounds for Mercyhurst.
 
The Mountain Cats will host a PSAC doubleheader with the women's team against Slippery Rock University on Wednesday starting at 5:30 p.m. in the Sports Center, before traveling to Greensburg to for a conference game against Seton Hill University on Saturday.