Josh Wise scored 25 points to help Pitt-Johnstown build a 17-point second half lead, before the Mountain Cats held on for an 86-83 PSAC victory at Seton Hill, Saturday afternoon.  Pitt-Johnstown made it three straight wins and improved to 9-8 overall and 7-6 in conference-play.
 
After not holding a lead for the first seven minutes of the game, Pitt-Johnstown used a 17-2 run over a span of seven minutes to build a 13-point advantage.  Three straight baskets from Josh Wise put the Mountain Cats up four at 12:17, before Isaac Vescovi and Wise scored to push it into double digits at 26-16.  Pitt-Johnstown then got a 3-pointer from Drew Magestro and a layup from Levi Masua to go up 31-18 at 7:14.
 
Dale Clancy and Josh Wise both picked up their second fouls of the half and Seton Hill took advantage of it.  The Griffins answered right back with a 15-2 run of its own to tie it at 33 on a pair of Trevor Blondin free-throws and Spencer Cason's dunk with 1:51 left in the half.
 
Pitt-Johnstown's Steven Votodian and Seton Hill's Tommy Sekunda exchanged 3-pointers, before Vescovi made two free-throws with 12 seconds left and Blondin hit two from the line 10 seconds later to knot it at 40 at the half.
 
With all five starters back on the floor to open the second half, the Mountain Cats got a quick eight points from Wise and a basket in the paint from Masua to rebuild the lead to 54-45, before Blondin and Trevor Lecuona hit 3-pointers that got the Griffins back to within three with 12:52 to play.
 
Pitt-Johnstown responded to outscore the Griffins 18-4 over the next five minutes to make it 74-57 on back-to-back 3-pointers from Clancy at the 8-minute mark.
 
Seton Hill tried to get back in it at narrowed the gap to 84-81 with 13 seconds left on another dunk by Casson, but Wise followed with a pair of free-throws to ice the win for the Mountain Cats.
 
Along with Wise's 25 points, Pitt-Johnstown also got 20 points from Vescovi, 16 points and 12 rebounds from Masua, and 12 points and five assists from Clancy.
 
Clancy currently stands in 14^th-place on the Mountain Cat All-Time Scoring List (1,288 points), fourth on the assists list (469), and fifth on the 3-point field goals list (201).  Vescovi is 18^th-place on the Pitt-Johnstown Scoring List with 1,188 points.
 
Pitt-Johnstown shot 52.5% (31-59) from the field and 8-17 from 3-point range.  The Mountain Cats also got the job done from the free-throw line, connecting on 16-19.  Seton Hill, which outrebounded Pitt-Johnstown 41-32, shot 45.6% (31-68) from the field, 7-23 from behind the arc, and 14-19 from the charity stripe.
 
Casson finished with 25 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, and Blondin added 23 points to lead four Griffins who scored in double figures.
 
With the loss, Seton Hill dropped to 6-12 overall and 3-10 in the PSAC.
 
Pitt-Johnstown returns home to the Sports Center to host a PSAC doubleheader with the women's team against Nationally-ranked West Chester University on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., before traveling to a conference game at Gannon University on Saturday.