After picking up a pair of wins to begin PSAC Crossover play last weekend, the Pitt-Johnstown men's basketball team hopped on a plane early Sunday morning and traveled south to play a pair of games in the 2024 Puerto Rico Classico.
 
In Monday's opener, the Mountain Cats took advantage of Baden Forup's career-high 18 points and game-high eight rebounds to take down Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras, 67-62.  Pitt-Johnstown made it three straight wins and improved to 5-3.
 
Forup collected 18 points on 9-14 shooting, while Ryan Smith had 10 points and six boards, and Vinnie Cugini added 10 points to pace the Mountain Cats.  Nick Watts had nine points and five rebounds, Jay Rose tallied nine points, and Sean Dillon chipped-in seven points, five rebounds, and a game-high five assists.
 
Watts hit a pair of free-throws 11 minutes in to give the Mountain Cats a 25-14 advantage, but Rio Piedras clawed back and got a 3-pointer from Ivan Rosa as time expired in the first half to narrow it to 36-33.
 
Pitt-Johnstown never gave up the lead and used a jumper from Forup and a 3-pointer from Smith with 11:30 to play to get the lead back into double digits.
 
After Rose's layup at the six-minute mark gave the Mountain Cats their largest lead of the day at 60-47, Pitt-Johnstown maintained the double-digit lead for the next 4:30 and went on to the five-point win.
 
The Mountain Cats, who which outrebounded Rio Piedras 36-20, including 16-5 on the offensive end, shot 46.4% (26-56) from the floor.  Pitt-Johnstown also held a 16-9 advantage in second-chance points and a 42-32 advantage in points in the paint.
 
With the loss, Rio Piedras fell to 0-4.
 
Pitt-Johnstown will take on Interamericana University at the Puerto Rico Classico on Tuesday, before traveling to Shippensburg and Millersville for PSAC Crossover games on Dec. 6 and 7.