The Pitt-Johnstown men's basketball team, winners of three straight games and 10 of its last 11, used an 18-0 second half run to erase a deficit and retake the lead, but Gannon was able to hold off the Mountain Cats for a 67-66 PSAC Western Division win, Monday night in Erie.  John Paul Kromka's 17 points and game-highs of nine rebounds and four blocks led Pitt-Johnstown.  The Mountain Cats, still one of the hottest teams in the PSAC, are now 17-5 overall and 13-3 in conference-play.
 
Four Mountain Cats scored in double figures.  Along with Kromka, the PSAC West Defensive Player of the Week for a fourth time, Drew Magestro scored 14 points, including four 3-pointers, while Fred Mulbah had 10 points, five rebounds and a game-high seven assists.  Jared Jakubick added 10 points and seven rebounds.  Pitt-Johnstown also got eight points from Andy Zuchelli and five rebounds from Joe Batt.
 
In a first half of runs by both teams, Pitt-Johnstown raced out to an 8-2 lead with a Kromka bucket, sandwiched around 3-pointers from Mulbah and Joe Batt.
 
Gannon hit a pair of three-pointers and got a Donovan Forte layup to climb on top, 17-8, with just over 11 minutes to go in the first half.
 
The Mountain Cats got hot again and used a 10-0 run, including 3-pointers from Jakubick and Magestro, to regain the lead less than three minutes later.
 
The runs continued.  This time Gannon, which shot 53% from the floor in the half, caught fire and was able to rebuild its to 39-23 on Braden Olsen's 3-pointer and a basket from Alphonso Pickens, Jr.
 
The Mountain Cats, who hit seven 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes, responded in the final minute with a three-pointer from Jakubick and three of Zuchelli's eight first half points off the bench to narrow the gap to 43-29 at the half.
 
The Golden Knights held the momentum and pushed the lead out to 49-29 early in the second half.
 
Now it was the Mountain Cats' turn.  Pitt-Johnstown stormed back with 18 unanswered points, including two 3-pointers and eight points from Magestro to cut it to 49-47 with 12 minutes remaining.
 
The Mountain Cats weren't done.  Ryan Smith hit a 3-pointer at 10:10 to make it a one-point game, before Mulbah's jumper a minute later competed the comeback and put Pitt-Johnstown back in front, 54-53.
 
Five consecutive points from Kromka and a Mulbah layup helped get Pitt-Johnstown's lead out to 63-57 at 4:43.
 
However, Gannon regained the lead by one with 1:37 left on two Robertas Jonaitis free-throws, and Lance-Amir Paul's layup at :52 made it 67-64.
 
After a slow first half, Pitt-Johnstown shot 48.1% in the second half to finish at 41.4%, including 10-22 from 3-point range and 8-11 from the line.  The Mountain Cats held Gannon to just 33.3% shooting and 0-5 from beyond the arc in the second half.  Gannon finished at 43.5% and 6-17 from 3-point range.  The Golden Knights were 7-12 from the charity stripe.
 
Olsen's game-high 23 points and nine rebounds and Paul's 12 points led the Golden Knights, now 12-7 overall and 9-6 in the PSAC West.
 
The Mountain Cats return home to the Sports Center to host a PSAC doubleheader with the women's team against Slippery Rock on Wednesday at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m., before traveling to a conference game at Clarion on Saturday.