Fred Mulbah poured in a career-high 27 points to help Pitt-Johnstown deal West Chester its first loss of the season and open PSAC Crossover-play with a 78-70 victory over the Golden Rams, Friday night in West Chester. The Mountain Cats improved to 5-2 overall and 1-0 in the PSAC West.
Mulbah finished with 27 points on 9-15 shooting and 9-14 from the free-throw line to pace three Mountain Cats who scored in double figures. Mulbah also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out five assists.
John Paul Kromka collected a double-double of 19 points (8-12 FG, 3-4 FT) and a game-high 13 rebounds, while
Caiden Landis added 11 points and five rebounds all in the first half. Pitt-Johnstown also got nine points, including 5-6 free-throws from
Joe Batt, and eight points from
Drew Magestro.
Mulbah's steal and dunk, followed by a Kromka bucket gave the Mountain Cats a slim four-point advantage midway through the opening half.
West Chester, which entered the game at 5-0, responded with a 10-1 run over the next 3:15 to go on top 24-20 on Kyle McGee's 3-pointer, but Pitt-Johnstown came right back and used a Landis dunk to spark a 10-2 run to regain the lead, 30-26, at the 4:18 mark.
The Mountain Cats held the lead and took a 35-30 advantage into the break on two more of Mulbah's 13 first half points.
Three straight points by Mulbah to open begin the second half bumped the Pitt-Johnstown lead to eight, before
Ryan Smith's layup and Batt's free-throws got it into double digits at 57-45 with 10:27 remaining.
Magestro's 3-pointer with just under six minutes to play put the Mountain Cats in front 67-53, and Pitt-Johnstown went on to hit 9-of-10 from the free-throw line in the final minute to preserve the victory.
Pitt-Johnstown held the Golden Rams to just 35.1% (26-74) shooting and 7-27 from behind the arc. The Mountain Cats hit 47.5% (28-59) of their shots and were 21-29 from the charity stripe. West Chester was 11-12 from the line.
McGee had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Matt Dade chipped-in 10 points and eight rebounds to lead four West Chester players who scored in double figures.
With the loss, the Golden Rams slipped to 5-1 overall and 0-1 in the PSAC East.
The Mountain Cats visit Millersville for a PSAC Crossover game on Saturday. 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.
