A second half comeback just wasn't in the cards for Pitt-Johnstown as it was tripped up in a narrow 79-71 loss to Seton Hill on Wednesday night at The Katherine Mabis McKenna Center. The Mountain Cats slipped to 11-5 (7-3 PSAC).
John Paul Kromka recorded a double-double with team-highs of 17 points and 15 rebounds. Kromka, who was recently named to the 2023 Bevo Francis Top 100 Watch List, also provided two blocks and two steals.
Jared Jakubick added 15 points, three rebounds and three assists, while Ryan Smith provided 14 points for the Mountain Cats. Andrew Shull, who was coming off a season-high 23 points against No. 1 IUP, supplied 13 points and dished out a game-high six assists.
The Mountain Cats kept themselves well within striking distance despite going down by as many as 11 with a little more than 13 minutes to play. Kromka's layup with 3:22 remaining willed Pitt-Johnstown to within four at 70-66. But coming out of a media timeout, Seton Hill's Sean Dillon made a pair of free throws to extend the lead back to six.
Following a pair of misses from deep by Pitt-Johnstown, Seton Hill forward Jimmy Moon all but put the game away when he knocked down a three to extend the Griffins' advantage to 75-66 with just 1:03 to play.
Dillon racked up a team-high 17 points and grabbed five boards to help the Griffins win their fourth straight and improve to 10-6 (5-5 PSAC).
Smith's layup with 9:21 to play in the first half gave Pitt-Johnstown a 20-16 lead. Seton Hill went up 30-20 before Kromka helped breathe some life back into the Mountain Cats. His layup with under a minute to play in the half capped off an 11-3 run to send Pitt-Johnstown into the half down just 33-31.
Pitt-Johnstown poured in 26 points off of 16 Seton Hill turnovers and had a 19-16 advantage over the Griffins in bench scoring. But the Griffins countered by shooting 46.7% (14 of 30) from beyond the arc, by far the best any team has shot from long range against the Cats this season.
The Mountain Cats will host Slippery Rock on Saturday at 3 p.m.
