Isaac Vescovi scored a game-high 28 points to help the Mountain Cats build a 25-point first half advantage on their way to clinching a spot in the PSAC Tournament with an 82-75 Senior Day, PSAC win over California (PA), Saturday afternoon in the Sports Center.  Pitt-Johnstown made it three straight victories and improved to 13-10 overall and 11-8 in the PSAC.
 
Prior to tip-off, Pitt-Johnstown recognized seniors Dale Clancy, Levi Masua, and Vescovi.
 
The Mountain Cats raced out to an 11-point lead nine minutes into the game on two Clancy free-throws and Masua's layup.
 
Clancy's 3-pointer at 4:01 increased it to 35-15, before Vescovi scored in the paint to extend it to 25 at 42-17 with 2:09 left.
 
The Vulcans answered with a Robel Teckle to cut the California (PA) deficit to 42-20 at the half.
 
California (PA) didn't go away and outscored the Mountain Cats by a dozen over the first 10 minutes of the second half to narrow the gap to 59-49 on Cordell Smith's 3-pointer and Isaiah Lewis' jumper.
 
Josh Wise's layup at 9:30 increased the Pitt-Johnstown lead back to 12, before a 9-0 Vulcans run made it 61-58 with 6:18 to play.
 
The Mountain Cats never let it get any closer.  Baskets by Olando King, Jr. and Clancy pushed it to 74-64 five minutes later.  Pitt-Johnstown then made eight consecutive free-throws in the final 49 seconds, including four by Vescovi, to seal the seven-point win.
 
Vescovi's game-high 28 points on 11-16 shooting and 5-5 from the free-throw line led three Mountain Cat double figure scorers.  Wise had 18 points and six rebounds, while Clancy finished with 16 points and five assists.  Pitt-Johnstown also got eight points and a career-high 12 rebounds from King, Jr., and eight points and eight rebounds from Masua.
 
Clancy currently stands in 10^th-place on the Mountain Cat All-Time Scoring List (1,401 points), third on the assists list (505), and fifth on the 3-point field goals list (223).  Vescovi is 14^th-place on the Pitt-Johnstown Scoring List with 1,321 points.
 
Pitt-Johnstown, which held a 41-33 advantage on the glass and held the Vulcans to just 20% shooting in the first half, shot 51.6% (33-64) from the floor, 4-18 from 3-point range, and 12-16 from the charity stripe.  California (PA) ended the day shooting 39.1% (25-64), including 55.9% in the second half, 11-36 from behind the 3-point line, and 14-16 from the free-throw line.
 
Smith had 21 points (5 3-pointers), Teckel collected 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Philip Alexander chipped-in 13 points and six rebounds for the Vulcans, who fell to 9-15 overall and 5-13 in the PSAC.
 
Pitt-Johnstown will host a conference doubleheader with the women's team against Seton Hill on Wednesday, before closing out the regular season with conference road games at Slippery Rock next Saturday and at Mercyhurst on February 21.