The Pitt-Johnstown men's basketball team will host a non-conference game against Virginia State University, Sunday afternoon in the Sports Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
Pitt-Johnstown and Virginia State were originally to meet at the IUP Thanksgiving Classic, but the game was moved to Johnstown after Salem (WV) dropped out of the tournament.
Pitt-Johnstown, under 33
rd-year
Head Coach Bob Rukavina, comes in at 3-1, after last weekend's 104-74 non-conference win at Allegheny.
Jared Jakubick (23 points),
Ryan Smith (19 points),
Joe Batt (13 points),
Caiden Landis (13 points), and
Andy Zuchelli (10 points) all scored in double figures for the Mountain Cats.
John Paul Kromka, who enters the game 23 points shy of becoming Pitt-Johnstown's 32
nd 1,000-point scorer, stands in 14
th-place on the Pitt-Johnstown All-Time Rebounding List with 528, while
Fred Mulbah ranks ninth on the All-Time Assists List with 382 assists.
Prior to Saturday's game at Indiana (PA),
Coach Lonnie Blow, Jr.'s Virginia State Trojans were also 3-1. The Trojans opened the season with wins over Mansfield and Shippensburg at the Virginia State Tip-Off Classic, before defeating the hosts, 99-95, at the Mount Olive (NC) Pickle Classic on Nov. 19 and suffering a 105-90 loss to Barton (NC) on Nov. 20.
Pitt-Johnstown and Virginia State have met seven times since the 1999-00 season, and the Trojans hold a 4-3, advantage. In the last meeting on Nov. 9, 2018 at the IUP Classic, Kromka's late free-throws led the Mountain Cats to a 59-58 victory over the 16
th-ranked Trojans.
Josh Wise's game-highs of 16 points and nine rebounds, and Kromka's 11 points paced Pitt-Johnstown.
Jahmere Howze had 13 points and eight rebounds, and
William Vedder's 10 points led Virginia State.
The Mountain Cats travel to Malone (OH) for a non-conference game on Tuesday, before opening PSAC-Crossover play with games at West Chester on Friday and Millersville on Saturday. Pitt-Johnstown will return home to host a conference game against Shepherd (WV) as part of a double header with the women's team on December 14.
