Pitt-Johnstown overcame 44 points from Frankie Hughes and used 24 points from Fred Mulbah to earn a 91-87 PSAC Western Division victory over Slippery Rock and hand the Rock its first conference, Wednesday night in Slippery Rock.  The Mountain Cats, who made it four wins in its last five games, improved to 9-3 overall and 5-1 in the PSAC West.
 
Mulbah finished with 24 points on 11-17 shooting, six rebounds, and seven assists to lead five Mountain Cats who scored in double figures.  Joe Batt scored 18 points (8-12 FG) and grabbed seven rebounds, while John Paul Kromka added 18 points, four rebounds and a game-high five blocks.  Pitt-Johnstown also got 15 points from Ryan Smith and 11 points and five rebounds off the bench for Jared Jakubick.
 
Kromka and Andy Zuchelli combined for the first nine Mountain Cat points to help Pitt-Johnstown jump out to a quick seven-point lead.
 
Batt's 3-pointer at 15:22 kept the lead at seven, but twelve points from Hughes in the first eight minutes kept Slippery Rock close, before three-pointers from Bobby Clifford and Dylan Ahearn tied it at 22 midway through the opening half.
 
Smith's 3-pointer quickly broke the tie and ignited a 15-2 Pitt-Johnstown run over the next six minutes that pushed the lead into double digits at 37-27 on Mulbah's bucket.
 
The Mountain Cats, who led wire-to-wire, maintained the lead and took a 43-37 advantage into halftime.
 
Pitt-Johnstown kept the momentum and outscored The Rock, 12-3, over the first 3:33 of the second half to extend the lead to 55-41 on Jakubick's 3-pointer and Mulbah's layup.
 
Slippery Rock clawed its way back and narrowed it to one on three occasions, with the last coming on Jonathan McFall's dunk with 5:03 to play, but the Mountain Cats never gave up the lead.
 
After shooting 58% in the first half, Pitt-Johnstown shot even better in the second half and ended the night at 63.8% (37-58).  The Mountain Cats were also 6-13 from behind the arc and 11-13 from the line.  Slippery Rock was held to 44.6% (33-74) shooting, and 14-36 from 3-point range.  The Rock was 7-8 from the charity stripe.
 
Hughes' game-high 44 points came on 16-26 shooting, including 10-17 from behind the 3-point line.  Slippery Rock, which had its six-game winning streak snapped and fell to 9-3 overall and 5-1 in the PSAC West, also got 15 points from McFall and 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds from Tyler Frederick.
 
The Mountain Cats will host a PSAC Western Division game against California (PA), Saturday afternoon in the Sports Center.