Andrew Shull scored 19 points and dished out a career-high seven assists, and freshman Gavin Headings collected a double-double of 14 points and game-high15 rebounds in his collegiate debut, but Notre Dame (OH) was able to fend off a young Pitt-Johnstown team for an 89-76 victory in Friday's season-opener at the Indiana (PA) Hilton Garden Inn Tip-Off Classic in Indiana.
 
Along with Shull and Headings, the Mountain Cats got 17 points and six rebounds from Ryan Smith, career-bests of 12 points and 10 rebounds from Will Kromka, and 10 points from Andy Zuchelli.
 
After having to replace six seniors due to graduation, Pitt-Johnstown got off to a quick start and used Kromka's conventional 3-point play to climb out to a five-point lead four minutes in, before Shull knocked down a turnaround jumper at the 12-minute mark to put the Mountain Cats on top 20-13.
 
Notre Dame followed with a 21-6 run over the next eight minutes to regain the lead.  Eight of Gbolahan Adio's 25 opening half points gave the lead back to the Falcons, and a pair of free-throws from Adio at 4:14 made it 34-26.
 
The Mountain Cats answered right back.  Smith accounted for eight of the next 10 Pitt-Johnstown points, and Headings scored in the paint with :25 left in the half to narrow the deficit to two, but RJ Ogom's layup and free-throw with :03 to go gave Notre Dame a 45-40 halftime advantage.
 
Zuchelli drilled a 3-pointer early in the second half that got the Mountain Cats back to with a basket, and Pitt-Johnstown kept it close, cutting it to two points on two other occasions, with the last coming on at 58-56 on Kromka  bucket at 12:18.
 
However, the Falcons slowly increased their lead into double digits.  A pair of free-throws from Ogom and Devin Haid's 3-pointer with 6:41 to play made it 71-58.
 
The Mountain Cats didn't go away and used consecutive 3-pointers from Shull to pull to within seven at 79-72 with just over two minutes remaining, but that was as close as Pitt-Johnstown could get.
 
The Mountain Cats, who out-rebounded Notre Dame by four, shot 28-69 from the floor and 6-22 from behind the arc.  Pitt-Johnstown also hit 14 of its 15 free-throws.
 
Notre Dame, which ended the evening shooting 47.8%, was 9-21 from 3-point range and 14-18 from the line.
 
Adio led all scorers with 33 points, while Haid had 21 points, and Ogom chipped-in 20 points and 11 boards for the Falcons.
 
Pitt-Johnstown will close out the IUP Tip-Off Classic against Concord (WV) on Saturday at 5:30 p.m., before making its 2023-24 home debut with a non-conference game against Penn State-New Kensington on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Sports Center.