Josh Wise knocked down a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:05 left, then made a steal off an inbound pass with 6.4 seconds to preserve a 72-69 Pitt-Johnstown PSAC win over Slippery Rock Saturday afternoon in the Sports Center and give Head Coach Bob Rukavina his 500^th career victory.
 
The Mountain Cats improved to 15-3 overall and 9-2 in conference-play.
 
"Pitt Johnstown congratulates Coach Bob Rukavina for achieving 500-wins! We are proud of his accomplishment, leading the Mountain Cats to another great victory, one of many in his exceptional coaching career," said Pitt-Johnstown President Dr. Jem Spectar following the milestone victory.
 
Wise's 21 points paced three Mountain Cat double figure scorers.  Marcin Wiszomirski scored 12 points and grabbed four rebounds off the bench, while Fred Mulbah scored 10 points and dished out a game-high eight assists.  Pitt-Johnstown also got eight points and seven rebounds from John Paul Kromka, and eight points apiece from Caiden Landis and Joe Batt.
 
The Mountain Cats ran out to a 33-18 lead on Wise's free-throws with 1:41 left in the opening half, before a 3-pointer from Wise helped Pitt-Johnstown take a 38-24 lead into the halftime break.
 
Slippery Rock came out hot in the second half and used a 29-15 run over the first 11 minutes to knot it at 53 on a Will Robinson, Jr. jumper.
 
A Micah Till basket, followed by Robinson, Jr.'s jumper at 7:11 put The Rock on top 59-56 and it stayed close the rest of the way.
 
Wise then broke a 67-67 tie with a 3-pointer at the 1:05 mark that gave the Mountain Cats the lead for good.  After Robinson, Jr. connected on two free-throws with :43 remaining that made it a one-point game, Slippery Rock had one more chance.  However, with 6.4 seconds remaining, Wise stole an inbounds pass, and Wiszomirski sealed the win with a layup as time expired.
 
The Mountain Cats shot an even 50% (30-60) from the floor, 5-21 from 3-point range, and 7-8 from the free-throw line.  After shooting just 34.5% in the opening half, The Rock rebounded to shoot 49.1% (28-57) for the game.  Slippery Rock was also 2-8 from 3-point range and 11-14 from the free-throw line.
 
Robinson, Jr.'s game-high 24 points and seven rebounds and Till's 16 points and game-high nine rebound led Slippery Rock, which fell to 8-9 overall and 4-7 in the PSAC West.
 
Pitt-Johnstown closes out a stretch of three straight home games with a PSAC doubleheader with the women's team against nationally-ranked Indiana (PA) next Wednesday evening in the Sports Center, before traveling to a conference game at Seton Hill on Saturday.
 
BOB RUKAVINA CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Rukavina took over the Mountain Cat men's basketball program prior to the 1989-90 season.  Through his first 30+ seasons, he has posted a 500-347 overall record and has led Pitt-Johnstown to all four of its NCAA Division II Tournament appearances and seven 20-win seasons.
 
The Mountain Cats earned their first-ever NCAA Tournament bid and finished with a 21-6 record in 1996-97.  One year later, Rukavina guided the Mountain Cats to a school-record 24-5 record and a second consecutive NCAA Tournament bid, before losing in the East Regional Semifinals by one point to eventual Regional Champion Fairmont State (W.Va.) College.
           
In 1998-99, Pitt-Johnstown finished the regular season ranked fifth in the country.  The Mountain Cats also tied the school record for wins in the regular season, duplicating the 23-4 mark set in 1997-98.  Pitt-Johnstown posted an 87-23 record (.791 winning percentage) between 1996 and 2000.  1999-00 also marked the program's sixth straight winning season.
 
After being tabbed the 2006-07 National Independent Coach of the Year, Pitt-Johnstown became a member of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) in 2007-08.  That year, Rukavina guided Pitt-Johnstown to a 23-8 overall record and the WVIAC regular season title with a 17-3 conference record.  Rukavina, the 2007-08 WVIAC Coach of the Year, also led the Mountain Cats to their third NCAA Tournament appearance.  In 2008-09, Pitt-Johnstown won the WVIAC Tournament title and advanced to its fourth NCAA Tournament.
 
Pitt-Johnstown then joined Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) to begin the 2013-14 season, where Rukavina has guided the Mountain Cats to five consecutive conference tournament berths, including back-to-back appearances in the quarterfinals in 2016 and 2017.
 
Pitt-Johnstown then joined Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) to begin the 2013-14 season.  Rukavina, the PSAC Western Division Coach of the Year in both 2015-16 and 2018-19, has guided the Mountain Cats to five consecutive conference tournament berths, including back-to-back appearances in the quarterfinals in 2016 and 2017.
 
Prior to taking over the men's basketball program in 1989, the Mountain Cats had only four winning seasons from 1969 to 1987.  That all changed in 1992, when Rukavina led Pitt-Johnstown to its first winning season since 1979, clinching it with a win over Division I Youngstown State University.  It was the first win over a Division I opponent in school history.
 
The Mountain Cats have been one of the most efficient offensive teams in the country over the last 20 years.  Pitt-Johnstown led the nation in field goal percentage in 2008 and 2010, and was the best three-point field goal shooting team in all of college basketball in 2012-13 and 2013-14.
 
Rukavina has had four players lead the NCAA in statistical categories on six different occasions.  His Mountain Cats have had five players receive accolades ranging from All-American Honorable Mention to All-East Region performers.  Nine former Mountain Cats have continued their basketball careers at the professional level in various countries.
 
Since he took over in 1989, Pitt-Johnstown men's basketball has graduated over 90 percent of its players.