Head Coach Bob Rukavina and the Pitt-Johnstown men's basketball team will make their 2018-19 home debut with a non-conference game against Penn State-Fayette on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Sports Center
 
Pitt-Johnstown split a pair of games to open the season at last weekend's Indiana (PA) IRMC/Hilton Garden Inn Classic.  John Paul Kromka's free-throw with one second remaining lifted the Mountain Cats to a 59-58 victory over No. 16 Virginia State in last Friday's opening round, but Pitt-Johnstown suffered an 81-72 loss to Concord (WV) in Saturday's second round.  Josh Wise had game-highs of 16 points and nine rebounds and Kromka had 11 points in his collegiate debut against Virginia State.  In Saturday's loss, Wise added 18 points, and Kromka collected his first career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.  Caiden Landis chipped-in 13 points for the Mountain Cats.
 
Head Coach Kenneth Johnson's Penn State-Fayette Lions played a pair of exhibition games at the West Virginia Tech Half Court Shootout  and suffered a 125-72 loss to the hosts last Friday and a 93-64 loss to Rio Grande (OH) last Saturday.  Tavian Mozie led Penn State-Fayette with 26 points against West Virginia Tech, while Marvin Sidon added 16 points and London Hoxie had 10 points.
 
Pitt-Johnstown leads the all-time series between the two teams 2-0.  The Mountain Cats and Lions last met on December 4, 2006 and the Mountain Cats came away with a 94-36 victory.  All-American Chris Gilliam scored a game-high 22 points and Quinton Davis added 10 points to lead Pitt-Johnstown.  Michael Bogden's 21 points paced the Lions.  The Mountain Cats also defeated Penn State-Fayette, 121-59, during the 2003-04 season in the only other meeting.
 
The Mountain Cats travel to the Indiana (PA) Classic on Friday and Saturday to take on Le Moyne (NY) College and the University of the Sciences, before returning home to host a non-conference game against Carlow on November 28 at 7 p.m. in the Sports Center.