Josh Wise matched his career-high with 31 points and
Joe Batt added a career-high 28 points to help Pitt-Johnstown turn a 13-point first half deficit into a 109-97 PSAC Crossover victory over Kutztown University, Saturday afternoon in the Sports Center. The Mountain are now 6-3 overall and 2-1 in the PSAC Western Division.
Kutztown opened-up a 9-0 lead to start on Josh Townsend's layup and free-throw just over a minute into the game, before Wise's 3-pointer narrowed it to 15-11 four minutes later.
Three-pointers from Anthony Lee and Facundo Arens capped a 13-4 Golden Bears' run that pushed the lead out to 28-15 midway through the first half.
However, Pitt-Johnstown came right back to outscore Kutztown, 22-5, over the seven minutes, led by Batt's 11 points off the bench. Three consecutive 3-pointers from Batt narrowed the Mountain Cats' deficit to one at 30-29 at the 5:50 mark, and baskets in the paint by
Marcin Wiszomirski and
John Paul Kromka gave Pitt-Johnstown a 37-33 advantage with 2:44 remaining.
Batt and Wise both connected on jumpers in the final minute to break a 39-all tie and give Pitt-Johnstown a 43-39 lead at the break.
Kutztown regained the momentum to begin the second half and got two more of Lee's game-high 50 points and another 3-pointer from Arens to rebuild it lead to 51-43 at 17:11.
From that point, the Mountain Cats began making free-throws. Pitt-Johnstown shot 33 second half free-throws and made 28 of them to erase the deficit. Ten straight makes from the line, including a pair each from Batt and Wise, put the Mountain Cats in front 68-65 with 10:26 to play.
Batt hit two more from the line, and Kromka's layup at 5:51 increased it to 85-76. And Pitt-Johnstown never let the Golden Bears get closer than six the rest of the way.
Wise finished with 31 points on 12-16 shooting and 3-4 from 3-point range, and Batt added 28 points on 6-10 shooting, 4-6 from 3-point range, and a perfect 12-12 from the charity stripe to
lead Pitt-Johnstown. Batt also grabbed five rebounds and had six assists. Kromka had 23 points (9-10 free-throws) five assists, and three blocks, and Wiszomirski had 11 points. The Mountain Cats also got eight points and six assists from
Caiden Landis and four points, six rebounds, and five assists from
Jared Jakubick.
Pitt-Johnstown shot an impressive 62.5% (35-56) from the floor, 7-13 from 3-point range, and 32-29 from the free-throw line. Kutztown was held to 44.0% (33-75) shooting, including 10-30 from behind the 3-point arc. The Golden Bears were just 21-32 from the free-throw line.
Lee collected a game-high 50 points (15-16 free-throws) and Moe Williams had 12 points and nine rebounds to pace Kutztown, which slipped to 5-4 overall and 1-2 in the PSAC East.
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.
