After unforeseen circumstances led to the postponement of yesterday's matchup with Lynn (FL) University, Pitt-Johnstown had the rare opportunity as well as the challenge of playing two games in one day on Tuesday.
The Mountain Cats edged Lynn 69-62 just hours before having to square up with unbeaten Nova Southeastern (FL), which came in ranked fourth in the country.
The well-rested Sharks, who played for the first time since Nov. 11, took full advantage by handing the Mountain Cats a 94-75 loss at Rick Case Arena in Fort Lauderdale.
Despite dropping to 3-2 on the season, John Paul Kromka shined again by producing a team-high 20 points and nine rebounds. Ryan Smith had 12 points and six rebounds, and Jared Jakubick added 12 points and five boards. Drew Magestro provided 12 points and four steals.
A personal 5-0 run by Jakubick gave the Mountain Cats an 11-8 lead a little more than four minutes into the game. Pitt-Johnstown took a 23-21 lead after Andrew Shull, who chipped in seven points and six assists, knocked down a jumper at the 10:38 mark of the first half. But Nova Southeastern answered with a game-defining 17-0 run to grab a 38-23 advantage with 5:31 to play in the half.
Kromka made a layup in the waning seconds of the half to make it 44-36, but the Mountain Cats went into the break down 46-36. As a team, the Sharks (4-0) finished 19 of 33 from the floor in the first half.
Nova Southeastern extended its lead out of halftime with an 11-0 spurt that put Pitt-Johnstown in a 57-36 hole just 3 minutes, 30 seconds into the second half. Jakubick connected on a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 13 with roughly 13 minutes to play but it was all the closer the Mountain Cats would get.
Pitt-Johnstown shot 28 of 56 (50%) from the field, including 9 of 18 from deep.
RJ Sunahara paced the Sharks with a game-high 23 points and grabbed six rebounds.
Following the Thanksgiving break, Pitt-Johnstown will host Penn State-Schuylkill on Monday at 7 p.m. The Mountain Cats open up PSAC play with a visit to Bloomsburg on Dec. 2.
