Mercyhurst used a 12-3 run to open the second half and build a 10-point advantage on its way to an 82-74 PSAC Western Division victory over the Mountain Cats, Wednesday night in the Sports Center.  The loss snapped a six-game Pitt-Johnstown winning streak and kept Head Coach Bob Rukavina at 499 career victories.
 
Josh wise scored 18 points and pulled down six rebounds to pace four Mountain Cats who scored in double figures.  Caiden Landis scored 13 points and had a team-high eight rebounds, while Marcin Wiszomirski added 11 points off the bench, and John Paul Kromka chipped-in 10 points.
 
The Mountain Cats, 14-3 overall and 8-2 in the PSAC West, got off to a strong start and jumped out to a 14-4 lead on Wise's 3-pointer.
 
Mercyhurst countered with a 14-4 run of its own over the next five minutes to knot it at 18 on a Cameron Gross layup, before the Lakers got a 3-pointer from Zach McIntire with under a minute left in the half to take a slim 31-30 lead.
 
Michael Bradley's 3-pointer at 3:17 into the second half capped the 12-3 run and put Mercyhurst on top, 43-33.
 
The Mountain Cats kept it close and pulled to within a basket at 66-64 on Wise's jumper with 6:16 to play, but the Lakers never let Pitt-Johnstown get closer.
 
Miykah McIntosh's 3-pointer at 2:43 pushed the lead back out to six and McIntire's conventional 3-point play made it 79-71 with :50 left.
 
Pitt-Johnstown shot a solid 49.1% (28-57) from the field, but just 3-15 from behind the arc and 15-23 from the line.  Mercyhurst shot 47.5% (28-59), including 1025 from 3-point range and 16-18 from the charity stripe.
 
Gross' game-highs of 26 points on 9-11 shooting and nine rebounds led five Mercyhurst double-figure scorers.  McIntire and Bradley each scored 13 points, while Nicholas Lang and McIntosh each netted 10 points for the Lakers, who improved to 9-5 overall and 7-3 in the PSAC West.
 
Pitt-Johnstown continues a stretch of three straight home games with a PSAC doubleheader with the women's team against Slippery Rock on Saturday afternoon and nationally-ranked Indiana (PA) next Wednesday.