Josh Wise scored 22 points and
John Paul Kromka collected career-highs of 20 points and 12 rebounds to help the Mountain Cats cut a 16-point deficit to four late in the second half, but No. 20 Shippensburg University held off Pitt-Johnstown for a 76-71 PSAC Crossover win, Sunday afternoon in Shippensburg. The Mountain Cats slipped to 5-3 overall and 1-1 in the PSAC Western Division.
Shippensburg came out and hit five straight 3-pointers in the opening five minutes, including two apiece from Lamar Talley and John Castello, to race out to a 17-4 lead.
Jared Jakubick's lay-up and free-throw closed a quick 7-0 Pitt-Johnstown spurt that cut it to 17-11, before a Wise bucket got the Mountain Cats to within five.
The Raiders answered with a 13-2 run over the final 8:27 to take a 39-23 halftime lead on Talley's tip-in as time expired.
Pitt-Johnstown opened the second half on a 16-5 run to cut the deficit to six at 44-39 six minutes into the second half on
Fred Mulbah and Wise 3-pointers, and a jumper from Wise.
Shippensburg scored the next five to extend its lead back into double digits on Castello's basket, before two
Adam Kline free-throws with 10:58 to play narrowed the gap to 51-46.
Kromka's jumper at 6:33 kept the Mountain Cats within five, before an
Olando King, Jr. dunk a minute later made it 61-57.
Pitt-Johnstown still trailed by only four at the 2:00 minute mark, but Antonio Kellem knocked down two 3-pointers for Shippensburg that pushed the lead back to nine at 73-64, and the Raiders were able to hold off the Mountain Cats.
Along with Wise and Kromka, Mulbah had eight points, three rebounds, and four assists, and Kline tallied six points and five rebounds for the Mountain Cats.
Pitt-Johnstown shot 44.4% (28-63) from the field and limited Shippensburg to just 37.1% (23-62) shooting. However, the Raiders were 10-28 from 3-point range and 20-29 from the free-throw line, compared to the Mountain Cats' 4-18 shooting from behind the arc. Pitt-Johnstown was 11-14 from the charity stripe.
Shippensburg, which improved to 8-0 overall and 2-0 in the PSAC East, was led by Kellem's 22 points, four rebounds, and eight assists. The Raiders also got 14 points and nine rebounds from Talley, 11, points and 10 rebounds from Castello.
Pitt-Johnstown will host a PSAC game with the women's team against Kutztown on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Mountain Cats will also host a non-conference doubleheader against Cheyney on December 18 and a PSAC doubleheader with the women's team against Millersville on December 19. Both doubleheaders will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. in the Sports Center.
