The Pitt-Johnstown men's basketball team, ranked sixth in the D2SIDA Atlantic Region Poll, ran out to a 17-point first half advantage, then connected on 5-of-6 free-throws down the stretch to hold off an Edinboro comeback and improve to 13-2 overall and 7-1 in the PSAC West with an 86-83 victory over the Fighting Scots, Wednesday night in Edinboro.  Josh Wise scored 23 points, and Drew Magestro added 21 points to lead Pitt-Johnstown and give Coach Bob Rukavina his 498^th career win.
 
Along with Wise and Magestro, Kromka had a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds for Pitt-Johnstown.  Fred Mulbah scored nine points and matched his career-high with 11 assists, while Caiden Landis and Joe Batt each scored eight points for the Mountain Cats.
 
The Mountain Cats, winners of five straight games, started fast and built a 27-10 lead eight minutes into the game on a Kromka jumper and Mulbah's layup.
 
Edinboro battled back to get the deficit down to 39-30 at the halftime break on Turner Kurt's basket with a minute left.
 
The Fighting Scots narrowed the gap to 51-46 five minutes into the second half, but a Magestro bucket at the 8:27 mark got the lead back into double digits, and Batt's driving layup with under five minutes to play made it 75-61.
 
Edinboro didn't go away and hit five three-pointers and got a pair of free-throws from Anthony Coleman to close a 19-8 run and narrow the gap to 83-80 with :25 to go.
 
However, Mulbah, Batt, and Magestro combined to make 5-of-6 free-throws down the stretch to preserve the three-point win.
 
Pitt-Johnstown shot 47.6% (30-63) from the floor, 9-20 from 3-point range, and 17-23 from the free-throw line.  The Mountain Cats held the Fighting Scots to just 36.6% (30-82) shooting.  Edinboro was 8-26 from behind the arc and 15-16 from the charity stripe.
 
Edinboro's Coleman match Wise's game-high with 23 points.  Trey Staunch had 20 points and a game-high 17 rebounds, and Jaryn Simpson scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Fighting Scots, who dropped to 5-7 overall and 2-6 in the PSAC West.
 
Pitt-Johnstown visits Clarion for a PSAC game on Saturday at 3 p.m., before returning home to host a conference doubleheader with the women's team against Mercyhurst on January 15.  The women will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. with the men's game to follow at 7:30 p.m.