John Paul Kromka poured in a team-high 16 points and pulled down six rebounds to lead Pitt-Johnstown past Clarion 66-53 on Wednesday night at Tippin Gym in Clarion. The Mountain Cats, who have now won six straight games and eight of their last nine, never trailed on their way to improving to 11-3 (7-1 PSAC).
Senior guard Joe Batt provided 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Jared Jakubick, who collected a team-high eight boards, and Andrew Shull both added 10 points. Ryan Smith totaled nine points, four assists and three rebounds.
Pitt-Johnstown thoroughly dominated the first 16 minutes, taking a lead that ballooned to as much as 16 on a layup by Kromka with 4:33 remaining in the half. Clarion hit a 3-pointer late, but the Mountain Cats went into the break up 30-22.
The Mountain Cats outrebounded the Golden Eagles 21-15 and limited them to just 32% (8 of 25) shooting from the floor in the first half.
Aided heavily by seven early second half points by Batt, Pitt-Johnstown pushed its lead back up to 15 with a little more than 15 minutes to play. After a Kromka steal, Jakubick laced a 3-pointer off an assist from Smith to increase the lead to a 18 at the 10:31 mark of the second half.
After Clarion cut the deficit to 11 with 5:28 remaining, Jakubick put the game on ice just a minute later with his second three of the evening to make it 60-46.
Gerald Jarmon scored a game-high 19 points for the Golden Eagles, who fell to 2-12 (0-8 PSAC).
Pitt-Johnstown shot 45.5% (25 of 55) from the floor and held Clarion to just a 35.2% (19 of 54) clip. The Mountain Cats turned 17 Clarion turnovers into 18 points.
The Mountain Cats host unbeaten and No. 1 ranked Indiana (Pa.) in a marquee matchup between the top two teams in the PSAC Western division on Saturday. Tip-off in the Sports Center is set for 3Â p.m.
