Fred Mulbah scored 15 points and dished out seven assists to become Pitt-Johnstown's all-time assists leader, but 19^th-ranked Mercyhurst was able to pick-up a 70-58 PSAC Western Division victory over the Mountain Cats, Wednesday evening in the Sports Center.  The Mountain Cats, ranked fourth in the NCAA's first Atlantic Region Rankings of the season, are now 19-7 overall and 15-5 in conference-play.
 
Mulbah entered the game just four assists shy of tying Nick Novak's (2009-13) Mountain Cat record of 545.  It didn't take him long to claim the record for himself.  Just 6:27 into the game, Mulbah found Ryan Smith underneath the basket for a layup to take over sole possession of the Mountain Cat assist record.  Mulbah, who leads NCAA Division II in total assists and ranks second in assists per gme, now has 548 career assists.  He is also just 13 away from becoming Pitt-Johnstown's 33^rd 1,000-point scorer.
 
Along with Mulbah, John Paul Kromka tied for game-high with19 points.  Kromka pulled down four rebounds, had four assists, and blocked four shots, while Joe Batt scored six points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds for Pitt-Johnstown.  The Mountain Cats also got six points and four rebounds from Smith, and five points apiece from Jared Jakubick and Andy Zuchelli.
 
Kromka currently ranks 14^th on the Pitt-Johnstown All-Time Scoring List with 1,381 points and sixth on the All-Time Rebounding List, with 698 rebounds, one rebound away from Chris Gilliam (2004-08) and A.J. Leahey (2013-17) for fourth-place.
 
In a tight first half between two of the top teams in the PSAC and Atlantic Region, neither team held a lead larger than five.  Kromka's bucket four minutes in put the Mountain Cats up by four, but Mercyhurst got a 3-pointer from Nicholas Lang at 10:15 to take a 17-12 advantage.
 
Pitt-Johnstown, which shot 48.3% in the opening 20 minutes, came right back.  Mulbah's basket at 5:50 knotted it at 21, before Mulbah connected on a 3-pointer :50 later to put the Mountain Cats back into the lead at 24-21.
 
The teams went into the halftime break tied at 30.
 
After Jakubick's 3-pointer with 14:51 to play gave Pitt-Johnstown a 39-38 lead, the Lakers slowly began to build a lead.  A MyKah McIntosh 3-pointer at 6:45 put Mercyhurst on top by six, before Steve Cannady's jumper at the 5:26 mark made it 58-47.
 
Kromka's layup and free-throw on the Mountain Cats' next possession quickly got it back down to eight.
 
Pitt-Johnstown kept it right around the eight-point mark until the Lakers made six free-throws down the stretch.
 
The Mountain Cats outrebounded the Lakers 32-26 and held Mercyhurst to just 43.3% shooting, including 8-28 from behind the arc.  After shooting 48% in the first half, Pitt-Johnstown stayed hto and increased it 57.9% in the second half to finish the game at 52.1% (25-48).  Pitt-Johnstown was a perfect 5-5 from the line.  The Lakers hit 10-11 from the line.
 
Mercyhurst, ranked sixth in the region, got 19 points from McIntosh and 15 points and eight rebounds from Lang.
 
The Lakers are now 21-4 overall and 15-4 in the PSAC West.
 
Pitt-Johnstown will wrap-up the 2021-22 regular season with PSAC road games at Seton Hill on Feb. 23 and at IUP on Feb. 26, before competing in the 2022 PSAC Men's Basketball Tournament that begins on Feb. 28.