John Paul Kromka scored a career-high 31 points to go along with a game-high 12 rebounds to power the Pitt-Johnstown men's basketball team to a 76-72 victory over California (PA) on Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center. The Mountain Cats have won four straight games to improve to 15-5 (11-3 PSAC).
Andrew Shull added 14 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Cats. Jared Jakubick connected on three 3-pointers and supplied 13 points, while Joe Batt had eight points and three assists.Â
In a game that came down to the final handful of possessions, Kromka and Shull took turns making clutch shots to stave off the Vulcans. After Donald Whitehead Jr. hit a jumper to put Cal up 68-66 with 5:17 to play, Kromka knocked down two free throws to tie the game a minute later.
Shull hit a jumper and nearly two minutes later after a pair of defensive stops, Kromka scored on a putback layup to raise Pitt-Johnstown's advantage to four with just 1:42 remaining. Keith Palek III got a layup to go for Cal, but Shull made two free throws on the ensuing possession to push the lead back to four.
With Pitt-Johnstown leading by just two, 74-72, with under 30 seconds to play, the Vulcans missed a potential go-ahead 3-pointer with 14 seconds left. The Cats corralled the board and Kromka knocked down two free throws to seal the game.
The Cats were efficient in the second half, shooting 50% (12 of 24) from the floor, while also holding the Vulcans to a 31.4% (11 of 35) clip, that also included just a 2 for 17 performance from downtown.
Pitt-Johnstown trailed by as many nine at 60-51 with 11:18 remaining, but a 13-4 run that was spearheaded with six points from Jakubick allowed it to tie the game at 64-all a little more than four minutes later.
The Cats trailed 42-40 at the break despite shooting 64.3% (18 of 28) in the first half.
Jermaine Hall Jr. and Palek III each scored 19 points for Cal, which fell to 9-11 (6-8 PSAC).
Pitt-Johnstown has a six-day break before returning to the Sports Center on Saturday to host Clarion for Winterfest Weekend as part of a double-header with the women's team. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.
