Pitt-Johnstown made it five consecutive wins behind Ryan Smith's game-high 24 points and John Paul Kromka's 20 points following Wednesday's 92-73 PSAC Crossover victory at Mansfield.  The Mountain Cats, ranked sixth in the DII SIDA Atlantic Region rankings, improved to 12-3 overall and 8-1 in conference-play and kept pace with IUP for the top spot in the PSAC Western Division rankings.
 
Smith, who scored 14 of his 24 points in the opening half and grabbed eight rebounds on the night, shot 7-13 from the floor, 2-4 from behind the arc, and a perfect 8-8 from the charity stripe.
 
Kromka added 20 points, four rebounds, four assists, and a game-high five blocks, while Fred Mulbah had a double-double of 18 points and 11 assists for Pitt-Johnstown.  The Mountain Cats also got 16 points and eight rebounds from Joe Batt and seven points and a game-high nine rebounds from Jared Jakubick.
 
Sparked by a pair of Smith 3-pointers and back-to-back buckets from Kromka, Pitt-Johnstown erased an early one-point deficit with 15 unanswered points to climb out to a 20-6 advantage at the 12:25 mark of the first half.
 
Mansfield clawed back to within seven at 28-21 on Justice Smith's 3-pointer and Idris Ali's driving layup five minutes later.  However, the Mountain Cats used a Drew Magestro 3-pointer, and baskets in the paint from Mulbah and Kromka to take its largest lead of the half at 16 with 3:21 to go, before going into the half on top, 43-32.
 
Pitt-Johnstown never let it get any closer.  Smith scored more six points in an 11-2 Pitt-Johnstown run over the first 2:23 of the second half that built the lead to 54-34.
 
A Joe Batt 3-pointer followed by a Mulbah gave Pitt-Johnstown its largest of the night at 85-59 with 5:09 to play, and the Mountain Cats cruised to their fifth straight victory.
 
The Mountain Cats shot 58.3% (35-60) from the field, 8-18 from 3-point range, and an 1mpressive 14-15 from the free-throw line.  Mansfield was held to 42.0% (29-69), including just 7-24 from behind the line.  The Mounties were also 8-10 from the free-throw line.
 
Jaz Farrell's 22 points led Mansfield.  Smith and Ali each chipped-in a dozen points for the Mounties, who fell to 1-15 overall and 0-10 in the PSAC Eastern Division.
 
The Mountain Cats return home to host an Alumni Weekend doubleheader with the women's team against Seton Hill on Saturday at 5 and 7 p.m. in the Sports Center.  Pitt-Johnstown will then play host to sixth-ranked Indiana (PA) in a possible battle for the top spot in the PSAC Western Division on Monday.  The women will tip-off Monday's doubleheader against the Crimson Hawks at 5:30 p.m. with the men's game scheduled for 7:30 p.m.