Concord (WV) University clawed back from an 18-point halftime deficit to force overtime, but Pitt-Johnstown led wire-to-wire in the extra period to hold on for a 96-91, season-opening victory in Friday's First Round of the IUP IRMC/Hilton Garden Inn Classic.
John Paul Kromka's game-high 26 points points on 11-14 shooting, 10 rebounds, and five blocks, and
Drew Magestro's 19 points and led four Mountain Cats who scored in double figures.
Pitt-Johnstown took control early and shot 55% in the opening half to build an 18-point advantage.
Baskets from Kromka and
Caiden Landis, followed by one of Magestro's three first half 3-pointers gave the Mountain Cats an 18-6 lead to start.
Concord got back in it with eight three pointers in the first 20 minutes and cut it to 33-27 on one from Matt Weir at 6:46, but the Mountain Cats regained control and outscored the Mountain Lions, 20-4- the rest of the way.
Three more of Magestro's 17 first half points got the lead out to 20 and Pitt-Johnstown took a 52-34 advantage into the halftime break.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Brandon Kennedy and Weir quickly got Concord back with a dozen to begin the second half, but Kromka answered with four straight buckets in the paint for Pitt-Johnstown to get the lead back out to 18.
The Mountain Lions battled back again. This time with a 23-9 run over the next eight minutes to pull to with four at 69-65 on a Lual Rahama layup with 10:40 to play.
Fred Mulbah's basket at the 7:24 mark and two free-throws from Landis at 5:55 extended the Mountain Cats' lead back into double digits.
Nine straight points from Concord, capped by an Ethan Heller 3-pointer, made it 77-76 at 3:37. Heller then hit two free-throws with :01 remaining to force overtime.
Pitt-Johnstown never trailed in the extra period. Two free-throws and a layup from
Ryan Smith put the Mountain Cats on top 90-86, and a pair of free-throws from Mulbah with :18 left made it a six-point game and Pitt-Johnstown held on for the five-point victory.
Along with Magestro and Kromka, Pitt-Johnstown got 16 points and game-high of 11 rebounds and eight assists from Mulbah and 15 points and nine rebounds from Landis,
Joe Batt hit 6-7 seven free-throws and finished with eight points, and Smith scored six points in his collegiate debut.
After shooting 55% in the opening half, the Mountain Cats finished the game at 44.6% (33-74) and 3-15 from 3-point range. However, Pitt-Johnstown connected on 27-35 from the free-throw line, compared to just 9-16 for Concord. The Mountain Lions were held to just 38.8% (33-85) shooting and were out-rebounded, 52-46, but hit 16 3-pointers.
Weir had 19 points, six rebounds, and seven assists and Dorian Gruggs had 19 points, while Rahama chipped-in 18 points and six rebounds to pace Concord.
Pitt-Johnstown will wrap-up the IUP Classic against West Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday at 5:15 p.m., before making their 2021-22 home debut against 14th-ranked West Liberty (WV) as part of a non-conference doubleheader in the Sports Center with the women's team. The women will take on West Virginia State at 5:30 with the men's game to follow at 7:30.
