In what was a nail-biter down the stretch between two of the top teams in the PSAC Western Division, Pitt-Johnstown did just enough late to come away with a 72-68 victory over Slippery Rock on Saturday afternoon in the Sports Center.

The Mountain Cats received plenty of notable contributions when they needed it most in the final minutes to improve to 12-5 (8-3 PSAC). Drew Magestro, who finished with seven points and four rebounds, drilled a clutch 3-pointer with 2:28 left to give Pitt-Johnstown a 66-63 lead it would never let fade away.

John Paul Kromka was once again the driving force behind Pitt-Johnstown's offense with a game-high 23 points and six rebounds. The senior out from Pittsburgh, PA scored 16 points in the second half and was a perfect 7 of 7 from the free throw line.

Nearly a minute after Magestro's three, Jared Jakubick extended the Mountain Cats' lead to five at 68-63 with a pair of free throws. Amante Britt responded with two free throws for The Rock, but Andrew Shull got a jumper to go with just under a minute left to make it a four-point game again.

After Slippery Rock cut the deficit back to two on its next possession, it had a chance to tie or take the lead with 19 seconds left following a timeout. But Shull denied The Rock of the opportunity after recording his second steal with just nine seconds to play and then following it up with two game-sealing free throws with seven seconds to go.

Shull tallied 15 points, five rebounds and three assists for the Cats, while Joe Batt and Ryan Smith each added 10 points.

Pitt-Johnstown limited Slippery Rock to just a 40% (12 of 30) clip from the floor in the first half to take a 35-30 advantage into the break. The Mountain Cats also survived late by getting hot from the floor and shooting 54.2% (13 of 24) after shooting just 42.3% in the first 20 minutes.

Jonathan McFall scored a team-high 20 points for The Rock, who dropped to 12-5 (6-5 PSAC).

Pitt-Johnstown, which holds sole possession of third place in the PSAC Western Division, will host Mercyhurst on Monday at 7:30 p.m.