Freshman John Paul Kromka's made one-of-two free-throws with one second remaining in regulation to break a 58-all tie and lift the Mountain Cats to a 59-58 season-opening victory over 16^th-ranked Virginia State University in Friday's First Round of the 2018 Indiana (PA) IRMC/Hilton Garden Inn Classic.
 
After a jumper and two free-throws from Josh Wise gave the Mountain Cats a 50-46 lead, the Virginia State scored the next to regain the lead, 53-50, on Cedric Wiggins' free-throw and second-chance layup from William Vedder.
 
Three lead changes later, Walter Williams 3-pointer put the Trojans back on top 58-56 at 3:30, but Marcin Wisomirski tied it at 58 with two free-throws with :35 seconds remaining.  Wiszomirski then made a steal on Virginia State's last possession and Kromka was fouled.  Kromka hit the first free-throw and missed the second to give Pitt-Johnstown the victory.
 
The Mountain Cats got off to a fast start and built a 10-point lead, maintained lead the remainder of the first half.
 
Five early points from Fred Mulbah and a conventional 3-point play from Wiszomirski put Pitt-Johnstown in front 16-6 seven minutes into the game.
 
Virginia State slowly clawed its way back in it and cut it to 25-24 at 5:20 on a Lual Rahama 3-pointer and James Smith's layup, but four straight points from Wise and Caiden Landis' dunk quickly pushed the Mountain Cat lead back out to seven.
 
The Trojans got to within five late in the half, before Adam Kline scored in the paint and Romano Sebastiani connected on a free-throw with 2 seconds left to give the Mountain Cats a 38-30 halftime advantage.
 
Two free-throws from John Paul Kromka 2:35 into the second half got Pitt-Johnstown's lead back into double digits at 43-32.
 
The Mountain Cats still held a 10-point lead with 12:40 to play, before Virginia State came back with a 10-0 run over the next 3:49, capped by Cyonte Melvin's bucket, to knot it at 46.
 
It stayed close the rest of the way.
 
Wise finished with game-highs of 16 points and nine rebounds, and Kromka had 11 points (5-6 free-throws) in his collegiate debut to lead the Mountain Cats.  Wizomirski collected six points and four rebounds, while fellow freshmen Mulbah had seven points, five rebounds, and a game-high six assists and Landis chipped-in six points.
 
Neither teams shot the ball well in the opener.  Pitt-Johnstown finished at 34.5% (19-55) from the field and 2-12 from 3-point range.  Virginia State shot 39.2% from the floor and 3-13 from behind the 3-point line. The Mountain Cats were 19-27 from the free-throw line and the Trojans hit 15-23 from the line.
 
The Trojans were led by Jamhere Howze's 13 points and eight rebounds and Vedders 10 points and six rebounds.
 
Pitt-Johnstown wraps-up the Indiana (PA) IRMC/Hilton Garden Inn Classic against Concord (WV) on Saturday, before making their home debut with a non-conference game against Penn State-Fayette on November 17 at 2 p.m. in the Sports Center.