Pitt-Johnstown, ranked sixth in the D2SIDA Atlantic Region Rankings, took a four-point lead early in the second half in front of one of the largest crowds ever in the Sports Center, but West Liberty (WV), ranked 14^th nationally, was able to regain the lead and went on to a 95-83 non-conference victory in the Mountain Cats' 2021-22 home-opener, Wednesday night.
 
Ryan Smith's career-high 26 points and five rebounds off the bench led five Pitt-Johnstown players who scored in double figures.  The Mountain Cats slipped to 2-1.
 
Neither team was able to build much momentum in a back-and-forth first half.  After Zach Rasile's 3-pointer with just over a minute to go put the Hilltoppers on top by four, Pitt-Johnstown's Joe Batt took a Drew Magestro's inbound pass and scored as time expired to made it 48-46 at the half.
 
The Mountain Cats opened the second half on a 12-4 run to take a 58-54 lead on two free-throws from Magestro and Smith's put-back at 15:51.
 
However, West Liberty took advantage of some Mountain Cat foul trouble and followed with a 19-4 run of its own over the next eight minutes.  Viktor Kovacevic's fast break dunk gave the lead back to the Hilltoppers at the 14:20 mark, before Marlon Moore connected on a pair of free-throws at 8:30 to close the run and put West Liberty in front, 72-63.
 
The Hilltoppers got the lead to as many as 17 with 4:55 to play, but Pitt-Johnstown clawed back and narrowed the gap to 86-76 on Magestro's 3-pointer just under three minutes later.
 
Along with Smith, Batt scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Magestro had 13 points, and Fred Mulbah collected a dozen points, six rebounds, and a game-high six assists for the Mountain Cats.  John Paul Kromka's double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds rounded out the Pitt-Johnstown double figure scorers.
 
The Mountain Cats out-shot West Liberty for the game.  Pitt-Johnstown finished at 51.7% (30-58), while holding the Hilltoppers to 47.1% (33-70).  West Liberty hit eight 3-pointers and was 21-28 from the free-throw line, while the Mountain Cats were 6-13 from behind the arc and 17-25 from the charity stripe.
 
Pat Robinson's 21 points and Malik McKinney's 19 points paced five Hilltoppers who scored in double figures.  West Liberty, which improved to 3-0, also got 12 points and 11 rebounds from Moore.
 
The Mountain Cats will be back in action at the IUP Thanksgiving Classic when they take on Salem (WV) on November 26 and Virginia State on November 27.  Pitt-Johnstown will play its next home game on December 14 when Shepherd (WV) visits the Sports Center for a PSAC Crossover doubleheader with the women's team.  The women will tip off at 5:30 p.m. with the men's game scheduled for 7:30 p.m.