Pitt-Johnstown battled back from a 22-point deficit, including a 16-point deficit with under five minutes to play, to earn a 96-92 overtime PSAC Crossover victory at Lock Haven on Saturday.  John Paul Kromka scored 24 points and had 11 rebounds to lead five Mountain Cat double-figure scorers and give Head Coach Bob Rukavina his 495^th career victory.  Pitt-Johnstown improved to 10-2 overall and 4-1 in the PSAC West.
 
Pitt-Johnstown mounted its comeback in the second half.  After trailing by 22 in the first half and 16 with 4:47 to play, the Mountain Cats stormed back to score 13 straight points to make it 75-72 at 1:48 on Fred Mulbah's jumper and Kromka's free-throw.  Then, with 10 second remaining, Christian Kelly hit 1-of-2 from the free-throw line to give Lock Haven an 80-78 lead, but Caiden Landis's layup with just 3 second left knotted it and forced overtime.
 
In the extra period, Mulbah's conventional 3-point play broke an 85-85 tie and gave Pitt-Johnstown the lead for good.  Another basket from Mulbah with 29 seconds to go increased the lead to 94-89, and Joe Batt followed with a pair of free-throws to seal the comeback victory.
 
Along with Kromka, Drew Magestro connected on five 3-pointers and finished with 19 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, and Landis had a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Mountain Cats.  Mulbah scored 14 points and dished out 10 assists for the second straight game, and Batt had 11 points for Pitt-Johnstown.
 
Lock Haven knocked down eight of its first 12 shots and hit seven first half 3-pointers to build an 18-point halftime advantage.
 
Three-pointers from Kelly and Matt Cerruti gave the Bald Eagles an 18-6 lead seven minutes into the game.
 
Pitt-Johnstown used a 3-pointer from Donovian Maxfield and a jumper from Jared Jakubick to cut it to 22-13 midway through the half, but Lock Haven answered with a 17-4 run over the next four minutes, capped by 3-more of Kelly's 16 first half points and Khaleeq Campbell's 3-pointer to extend it to 39-17.
 
The Mountain Cats were able to get it down to 44-26 at the break on Matt Holsinger's layup with under 20 seconds left.
 
Pitt-Johnstown held the momentum and scored the first seven points of the second half to narrow the gap to 44-33 on Landis' layup and Magestro's 3-pointer.
 
Joe Batt's basket at 11:40 got the deficit back into single digits, before the Bald Eagles pushed the lead back out to 16 with 4:47 to play on 3-pointers from Trevor Lecuona and Cerruti.
 
After a slow start, Pitt-Johnstown, which outrebounded Lock Haven 49-39, ended the day shooting 45.0% (36-80), 8-22 from 3-point range, and 16-20 from the free-throw line.  The Bald Eagles cooled off in the second half and finished at 46.4% (32-69) shooting.  The Bald Eagles were 13-30 from behind the arc, but just 15-23 from the charity stripe.
 
Kelly had a game-high 28 points and six rebounds, and Cerruti added 27 points to pace five Lock Haven players who scored in double figures.
 
The Bald Eagles dropped to 4-5 overall and 1-4 in the PSAC East.
 
Pitt-Johnstown will break for the holiday season before visiting California (PA) for a PSAC game on January 3.  The Mountain cats will then host Gannon for a PSAC doubleheader with the women's team on January 6 in the Sports Center.