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University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Athletics

PITT-JOHNSTOWN MOUNTAIN CATS
Ali Single
57
Pitt.-Johnstown Pitt-J 20-10,15-7 PSAC
86
Winner Mercyhurst Mercy 23-4,18-4 PSAC
Pitt.-Johnstown Pitt-J
20-10,15-7 PSAC
57
Final
86
Mercyhurst Mercy
23-4,18-4 PSAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Pitt.-Johnstown Pitt-J 28 29 57
Mercyhurst Mercy 43 43 86

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Short-Handed Mountain Cats Suffer Loss to National-Ranked Lakers in PSAC Quarterfinals

Erie, PA

Zuchelli_Andy.jpgThe Pitt-Johnstown men's basketball team, forced to play without senior, All-American forward John Paul Kromka due to an injury, knew it faced a tough task against nationally-ranked and second-seeded Mercyhurst in Wednesday's PSAC Quarterfinals in Erie.  The Lakers climbed out to a 15-point halftime advantage and went on to defeat the third-seeded and Atlantic Region sixth-ranked Mountain Cats, 86-57.  Drew Magestro scored 16 points and Andy Zuchelli added 12 points for Pitt-Johnstown, which will await a NCAA Tournament bid Sunday night, is 20-10.
 
Magestro finished with 16 points, including a trio for 3-pointers to move to within 22 points of becoming Pitt-Johnstown's 35th 1,000-point scorer, while all 12 of Zuchelli's points came off of four 3-pointers.  The Mountain Cats, who made their first straight appearance in the PSAC Quarterfinals, also go seven points and five rebounds from Jared Jakubick, seven points from Caiden Landis, and five points apiece from Joe Batt and Andrew Shull.
 
After Ryan Smith's jumper five minutes kept Pitt-Johnstown within a basket, Mercyhurst scored the next nine to go in front 19-8 on a Nicholas Lang jumper.
 
Sean Fullerton's free-throws at 6:41 increased it to 31-13, but the Mountain Cats continued to battle.  Landis' dunk with 4:09 left in the half narrowed it to 11, and Zuchelli knocked down one of his four 3-pointers just under two minutes later that kept the deficit at 11.
 
Mercyhurst, which took advantage of 62% first half shooting, was able to rebuild the lead to 43-28 at the break with a MiyKah McIntosh bucket as time was winding down.
 
The Lakers came out hot in the second half and extended the lead to 56-32 on the short-handed Mountain Cats and went on to the victory to earn a spot in Saturday's PSAC semifinals.
 
Without Kromka, who leads the team in scoring and rebounding and ranks second in NCAA Division II in field goal percentage and blocked shots, the Mountain Cats struggled to get the offense going.  Pitt-Johnstown was able to connect on nine 3-pointers and went 8-10 from the line.
 
McIntosh scored a game-high 18 points and Lang added a double-double of 17 points and game-high 14 rebounds for the Lakers, now 23-4.
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