The seventh-seeded Pitt-Johnstown men's basketball team ran into a red-hot West Liberty (WV) squad in Saturday's Quarterfinals of the 2023 NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Tournament at the Kovakchick Center in Indiana.  Andrew Shull poured in 23 points, and John Paul Kromka added 16 points, nine rebounds, and a game-high six blocks, but the second-seeded and Top-10 ranked Hilltoppers used 61% shooting in the first half to open up a lead en route to a 112-88 victory.  Pitt-Johnstown's season came to an end with a 20-11 overall record.
 
Along with Kromka's efforts, Shull finished with 23 points on 9-12 shooting, while Jared Jakubick had 15 points (7-10 FT) and Joe Batt tallied 13 points and a game-high to pace the Mountain Cats.  Pitt-Johnstown also got nine points from Ryan Smith and seven points from Drew Magestro.
 
West Liberty came out hot and hit its first four shots and ran out to an 11-2 lead, before a jumper in the lane from Kromka cut it to 13-7 at 15:39.
 
The Hilltoppers countered with a 12-2 run over the next three minutes, capped by a Bryce Butler bucket, to increase rebuilt the lead to 25-9.
 
Despite the Mountain Cats shooting 46% from the floor in the opening half, West Liberty's relentless pressure and up-tempo style enabled the Hilltoppers to take a 58-42 lead into the break.
 
West Liberty kept up the hot shooting in the second half and pushed the lead out to 19 with 14:56 to play.
 
Pitt-Johnstown battled back with 48.5% second half shooting to narrow the gap to 78-66 at the 11:23 mark with the help of a Batt 3-pointer and Kromka's basket, but that was as close as the Mountain Cats could get.
 
The Mountain Cats shot a solid 47.5% (29-61) from the field, 7-17 from behind the arc, and 23-30 from the line.  After shooting 61% in the first half, the Hilltoppers finished the day at 54.4% (43-79), but were held to 8-20 from 3-point range.  West Liberty was also 14-24 from the charity stripe.

Six Mountain Cat seniors...Joe Batt, John Paul Kromka, Jared Jakubick, Caiden Landis, Drew Magestro, and Jacob Shuagis...stellar careers came to an end after leading the Mountain Cats to three consecutive 20-win seasons, three appearances in the PSAC Quarterfinals, and the program's first appearance in the NCAA Atlantic Region Tournament since 2009.
 
Butler finished with a game-high 27 points and eight rebounds, and Malik McKinney collected 22 points to help the Hilltoppers win their 14 straight game and improve to 29-3.