Pitt-Johnstown got 21 points and five rebounds from Josh Wise and ran out to a 12-point first half lead, but Mercyhurst bounced back with a 26-10 run to close out the first half and begin the second half to rally for a 74-69 PSAC Wester Division victory, Monday afternoon in Erie.  The Mountain Cats slipped to 11-6 overall and 6-4 in conference-play.
 
Pitt-Johnstown held Mercyhurst to just 2-11 shooting to start and jumped out to a 14-5 lead on 3-pointers from Romano Sebastiani and Caiden Landis, and a Wise layup.
 
Wise's dunk, followed by a Landis free-throw at 7:56 got the Mountain Cat lead out to 12 at 22-10, before MiyKah McIntosh hit a trio of 3-pointers in an 11-2 Lakers' run over the next two minutes to narrow the gap to 24-21.
 
A pair of 3-pointers from Jared Jakubick helped Pitt-Johnstown rebuild the lead to 32-23 with 3:54 left in the half, but Mercyhurst scored the final five points, including Nelson Maxwell's 3-pointer, to make it 32-28 at the break.
 
The Lakers held the momentum and extended the run to 26-10 to take a seven-point lead seven minutes into the second half.  Maxwell's bucket at 17:12 gave Mercyhurst its first lead at 38-36, and Kordell Holness-Lightbody's layup at 12:39 put the Lakers in front 49-42.
 
The Mountain Cats cut it to three on three occasions, including on Wise's 3-pointer with 7:31 to play, but Mercyhurst was able to preserve the lead with Maxwell hitting 6-of-7 free-throws in the final :49.
 
Along with Wises, Landis had 15 points and five rebounds, and John Paul Kromka added 12 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks and four steals to lead Pitt-Johnstown.  The Mountain Cats also got six points apiece from Joe Batt and Jared Jakubick.
 
Pitt-Johnstown, which held a 38-30 advantage on the glass, shot an even 48% (24-50) from the floor, and went 9-19 from 3-point range, and 12-16 from the free-throw line.  Mercyhurst was held to 39.9% (24-61 shooting, but made nine 3-pointers and 17 of its 25 free-throws.
 
Maxwell's game-high 31 points (9-10 free-throws) led three Lakers who scored in double figures.  Jason Massey had 15 points and six rebounds, and McIntosh collected 12 points for Mercyhurst, which improved to 11-4 overall and 6-4 in the PSAC West.
 
The Mountain Cats go to Slippery Rock for a PSAC game on Wednesday, before hosting a conference doubleheader with the women's team against Seton Hill on Saturday in the Sports Center.  The women will tip-off against the Griffins at 1 p.m. with the men's game scheduled for 3:00 pm.