Pitt-Johnstown fell behind by 11 in the early going, but connected on 12 first half 3-pointers, including six from Josh Wise, to build a nine-point halftime advantage on its way to a 103-94 PSAC Western Division victory over California (PA), Wednesday night in the Sports Center.  The win gave Pitt-Johnstown sole possession of the second spot in the PSAC West.
 
Wise, who shot 6-10, from behind the arc, finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds to lead six double figure scorers and help the Mountain Cats improve to 18-5 overall and 12-4 in conference-play.
 
John Paul Kromka had 15 points (11-12 FT), 11 rebounds, and a game-high five blocks, while Caiden Landis had 15 points and 10 rebounds to five Pitt-Johnstown three players with double-doubles.  Drew Magestro was 3-of-6 from 3-point range for 17 points.  Fred Mulbah had 11 points and five assists, and Jared Jakubick chipped-in 10 points off the bench for the Mountain Cats.
 
The Vulcans started fast.  Jermaine Hall, Jr. knocked down five 3-pointers in the first nine minutes to help California (PA) jump out to a 29-18 lead.
 
Pitt-Johnstown came back to outscore the Vulcans 34-14 over the final 10:42 of the half.  A pair of 3-pointers from Wise and one from Donovian Maxfield cut the deficit to four at 5:29, before Kromka's free-throw with just under two minutes to go knotted it at 41.  The Mountain Cats then got a 3-pointer from Jakubick with time running out to take a 52-43 halftime lead.
 
Mulbah's jumper closed a 10-0 run Mountain Cat run to open the second half that gave Pitt-Johnstown its largest lead of the night at 62-43.
 
The Vulcans tried to get back in it and narrowed the gap to five on three occasions, with the last coming on Brent Pegram's 3-pointer that made it 94-89 with 2:28, but Pitt-Johnstown wouldn't let it get any closer.
 
Pitt-Johnstown shot 52.6% (30-57) from the floor, 13-24 from 3-point range and 30-37 from the free-throw line.  The Vulcans connected on 17-44 from behind the arc, but were held to just 40.5% (30-74) shooting from the field.  The Vulcans were 17-18 from the charity stripe.
 
Pegram scored a game-high 29 points, Hall, Jr. had 19 points and seven rebounds, and Luke House added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Vulcans, who slipped to 15-7 overall and into third-place in the PSAC West at 11-5.
 
Pitt-Johnstown hosts a PSAC, Alumni Day doubleheader with the women's team against Edinboro Saturday at 5 and 7 p.m. in the Sports Center, before visiting Slippery Rock for a conference game on Wednesday.