Pitt-Johnstown men's basketball Coach Bob Rukavina will look for win No. 500 when his Mountain Cats take on Mercyhust University in the second half of a PSAC doubleheader, Wednesday night in the Sports Center.  The women will tip-off against the Lakers at 5:30 p.m. with the men's game scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
 
     Coach Rukavina, who enters the game with 499 career victories, and the Mountain Cats are ranked sixth in the DIISIDA Atlantic Region Rankings at 14-2 overall and 8-1 in the PSAC.  Pitt-Johnstown has won its last six games, including an 86-83 win at Edinboro last Wednesday and a 67-64 win at Clarion on Saturday.  John Paul Kromka scored a game-high 19 points and had seven rebounds, and Joe Batt scored 12 points.  Fred Mulbah added nine points, four rebounds, and six assists against the Golden Eagles.
     Through his first 30+ seasons, Rukavina, the 2006-07 National Independent Coach of the year, has led the Mountain Cats to a 499-346 overall record and all four of the program's NCAA Division II Tournament appearances and seven 20-win seasons.
     Rukavina, who entered the season ranked 13th among active Division II coaches in victories, was also tabbed the West Virginia Athletic Conference (WVIAC) Coach of the year in 2007-08 and the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division Coach of the Year in both 2015-16 and 2018-19.
     Nationally for the Mountain Cats, Mulbah ranks third in assists (121), fifth in assists per game (7.6), and 62^nd in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.28).  Kromka is fourth in blocks (46), fifth in blocks per game (2.88), and ninth in field goal percentage (65.0%), while Caiden Landis is 20^th in field goal percentage (59.4%).
      Josh Wise enters the game tied with Rich Ragan (1974-78) for 15^th on the Mountain Cat All-Time Scoring List with 1,303 points.
      Head Coach Gary Manchel (17^th year) and the Mercyhurst Lakers, who advanced to last year's NCAA Division II Elite Eight, are 8-5 overall and 6-3 in the PSAC West following last Wednesday's 82-56 win at Clarion and Saturday's 86-64 home win over Kutztown.  Michael Bradley scored a game-high 25 points, Cameron Gross scored 18 points, and Zach McIntire had 14 points against the Golden Bears.
      Nationally, Bradley is 55^th in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.37), and MiyKah McIntosh is 69^th in free-throw percentage (85.4%)
      Pitt-Johnstown has won six of the last seven meetings and holds a 24-23 advantage in the series that dates back to 1971-72.  Last season, Mercyhurst broke a five-game losing streak to the Mountain Cats with a 74-69 win in Erie on January 21.  Nelson Maxwell's game-high 31 points led three Lakers who scored in double figures.  Wise had 21 points and Kromka added 12 points and a game-high 12 rebounds to pace Pitt-Johnstown.  The Mountain Cats answered with a 71-58 Senior Day win in the Sports Center on February 27 behind Wise's career-high 31 points.  Patrick Smith had 15 points and a game-high 17 rebounds for Mercyhurst.
 
 
      Head Coach Mike Drahos' Pitt-Johnstown Mountain Cats had four double-figure scorers, including Gabrielle Smith's game-high 20 points, to help Pitt-Johnstown snap a six-game losing streak and improve to 8-7 overall and 3-6 in the PSAC West with 75-64 victory at Clarion on Saturday.  Alli McGrath and Olivia Fasick each scored 13 points, while Maddie Shanahan had 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds for Pitt-Johnstown.  The Mountain Cats also got seven points and seven rebounds off the bench from Ashley Norling.
      Nationally, Smith leads the country in free-throws-made (99) and is third in free-throws attempted (119), while McGrath is 39^th in scoring at 18.2 points per game.  In addition, Fasick ranks 42^nd in steals (37), 45^th in assists per game (4.5), and 58^th in steals per game (2.5).
      Smith comes in ranked 15^th on the Pitt-Johnstown Scoring List (1,334 points) and 27^th on the all-time rebounding list (522 rebounds).
      Mercyhurst, under first-year Head Coach Brooklyn Kohlheim, is 4-11 overall and 4-5 in the PSAC West following a 68-65 win at Clarion last Wednesday and a 59-45 home loss to Kutztown on Saturday.  Amber Renz scored 16 points and had seven rebounds, and Nicolete Newman had 11 points and six rebounds in the loss to the Golden Bears.
      Nationally, Renz ranks 50^th in field goal percentage at 53.4%.
      Last season, Pitt-Johnstown and Mercyhurst split a pair of games.  On January 21 in Erie, Smith posted game-highs of 21 points and eight rebounds and Tori Moreland added 15 points to lead the Mountain Cats to a 67-57 victory.  The Lakers evened the season series with a 60-57 win to close out the regular season in the Sports Center on February 27.  Renz scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and Eliza Oswalt had 13 points and eight rebounds for Mercyhurst.  Smith had a game-high 19 points, while McGrath and Moreland each added 16 points for Pitt-Johnstown.
 
 
      Pitt-Johnstown will host PSAC doubleheaders in the Sports Center against Slippery Rock on Saturday at 1 and 3 p.m. and nationally-ranked Indiana (PA) next Wednesday at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.