Pitt-Johnstown never quite recovered after being blitzed throughout the first half by St. Thomas Aquinas College in an 89-75 setback to wrap up play in the IRMC Thanksgiving Classic on Sunday afternoon at the Kovalchick Athletic Complex.

A day after drilling 14 threes in an impressive 81-64 win over Indiana (PA), the Spartans made 11 threes in the first half and finished with 16 to drop the Mountain Cats to 2-3 on the year.

Will Kromka provided a career-high 15 points on 6 of 11 shooting and paired it with a team-high nine rebounds. Andy Zuchelli knocked down four 3-pointers and had 14 points, while Nick Watts chipped in 14 points and four rebounds in 30 minutes off the bench.

Andrew Shull had nine points and dished out seven assists, and Ryan Smith added nine points, four rebounds and four assists for Pitt-Johnstown.

It was an uphill battle from the jump for the Mountain Cats, who found themselves in a 16-2 deficit less than five minutes into the game. In the span of roughly a minute in the latter stages of the opening half, St. Thomas Aquinas hit three 3-pointers on three straight possessions to take its largest lead of the first half at 43-17 at the 7:27 mark.

Despite playing from behind, the Mountain Cats were still efficient, finishing an even 50% (30 of 60) from the field, including a 9-for-24 mark from distance.

Zuchelli capped a 16-4 rally with a three to cut the deficit to 47-33 with less than two minutes to go in the half. But the Spartans made a layup at the buzzer to take a 55-35 advantage into the break.

Jamal Barnes tallied seven 3-pointers and a game-high 21 points for St. Thomas Aquinas, which improved to 6-1 on the season.

The Mountain Cats open up PSAC play with a crossover matchup at Lock Haven on Friday with tip-off set for 5 p.m.