Isaac Vescovi scored 18 points and grabbed six rebounds, but fourth-seeded Edinboro University held the fifth-seeded Mountain Cats to just five points over the final seven minutes and went 19-21 from the free-throw line to secure a 77-67 victory in Monday's opening round of the 2018 PSAC Men's Basketball Tournament at McComb Fieldhouse in Edinboro.  Pitt-Johnstown's season came to an end with a 15-12 overall record.
 
All four of Pitt-Johnstown baskets in the early going were from behind the arc, including a pair from Josh Wise, that gave the Mountain Cats a 12-5 lead.
 
A bucket from Dale Clancy and two of Vescovi's 13 first half points helped Pitt-Johnstown maintain the seven point advantage with 13 minutes left in the half, before Trey Staunch's layup got Edinboro back to within three at 18-15.
 
After Levi Masua's tip-in and free-throw got the Mountain Cats' lead back out to eight at 9:07, The Fighting Scots used an 8-2 run, capped by Keyshawn Liggin's jumper, to narrow it to 27-25.
 
Edinboro kept it close and tied it at 33 on two Liggins' free-throws, but Drew Magestro's 3-pointer with seven seconds remaining put Pitt-Johnstown up 36-33 at the half.
 
Jaymon Mason's 3-pointer and another basket from Liggins to begin the second half gave the Fighting Scots their first lead since the first minute of the game.
 
Edinboro got it out to 48-43 on Staunch's jumper at 15:18, but four straight points from Wise closed a 7-0 Mountain Cat run that put Pitt-Johnstown back up by two.
 
It see-sawed back-and-forth and neither team was able to hold a lead larger than four until Liggins hit two free-throws with 2:27 left to give Edinboro a 70-64 lead.
 
Magestro's 3-pointer on Pitt-Johnstown's next possession made it a 3-point game, but that was as close as it would get.  Liggins went on to make four straight free-throws in the final minute to seal the victory.
 
Vescovi's 18 points and six rebounds led four Mountain Cat double figure scorers.  Wise had 15 points, while Clancy added 13 points, and Magestro tallied 10 points.  Pitt-Johnstown also got seven points and nine rebounds from Levi Masua, and eight rebounds from Olando King, Jr.
 
Clancy ended his Pitt-Johnstown career ninth-place on the Mountain Cat All-Time Scoring List (1,460 points), second on the assists list (521), and fifth on the 3-point field goals list (231).  Vescovi's career ended with him being ranked 12^th-place on the Pitt-Johnstown Scoring List with 1,394 points.
 
The Mountain Cats shot just 38.8% (26-67) from the field and 7-20 from behind the 3-point arc.  Pitt-Johnstown was also 8-11 from the free-throw line.  Edinboro, which held a 47-34 advantage on the glass, ended the night shooting 42.9% from the floor and 4-17 from 3-point range.  The Fighting Scots also made 19-of-21 from the charity stripe.
 
Edinboro, which advances to take on top-seeded Indiana (PA) in the PSAC Quarterfinals on Wednesday, improved to 17-10 behind Liggins' game-highs of 26 points and 12 rebounds, and Staunch's 22 points and nine rebounds.