Freshman guard Jay Rose poured in a double-double of 31 points and 11 rebounds in his second collegiate game to lead a balanced Pitt-Johnstown offensive attack to a 92-83 victory over Shaw (NC) in Saturday's Final Round of the Slippery Rock Atlantic Region Challenge.
 
Rose shot 10-17 from the field, 4-8 from behind the arc and 8-8 from the line to pace four Mountain Cats who scored in double figures and a total of seven who scored at least eight points.  Ryan Smith had 12 points and seven boards, while Adam Bilinsky tallied a dozen points, and Baden Forup had 10 points and four rebounds.  Pitt-Johnstown also got nine points and six rebounds from Vinnie Cugini, eight points an six rebounds from Nick Watts, and eight points and five assists from Sean Dillon.
 
Pitt-Johnstown, now 1-1 on the season, held the lead for much of the first half and built a pair of five-point in the early going.  A 3-pointer from Bilinsky put the Mountain Cats up 22-17, and Watts' layup and free-throw at 8:17 kept the lead at five at the 8:17 mark.
 
Shaw countered with a 15-2 run over the next four minutes, capped by Darius Abrahams 3-pointer, to give the Bears a 36-28 advantage, but Rose took over for Pitt-Johnstown down the stretch.  Rose, who netted 16 first half points, hit four 3-pointers in the final 4:32 to ignite a 16-4 Mountain Cat run.  A pair of long range jumpers from Rose and two of Watts' eight points in the opening 20 minutes narrowed the gap to a bucket, before Rose connected on back-to-back 3-pointers in the final :35 to put Pitt-Johnstown on top, 44-40, at the half.
 
A layup from Rose and five straight points from Smith extended the Mountain Cat run to 23-6 to start the second half and pushed the lead out to 51-42.
 
Dreveon Scott's bucket quickly got Shaw back to with four, but Pitt-Johnstown regained control and got the lead out to 76-60 on three free-throws from Rose with 7:03 to play.
 
The Bears clawed back to within five, but Bilinsky, Smith, and Rose combined to make six straight free-throws in the final minute to seal the victory.
 
Pitt-Johnstown closed out the evening shooting 45.5% (30-66) from the floor and 7-19 from 3-point range, while limiting Shaw to just 39.5% shooting, including 7-18 from behind the 3-point line.  The Mountain Cats also hit 25 of their 33 free-throws.
 
Shaw, now 0-2 to start the year, got 13 points apiece from Dee Barnes and Jaylen Bandy and 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds from Elijah Scranton.
 
Pitt-Johnstown will its 2024-25 home debut in the Sports Center with a non-conference games against Penn State-Greater Allegheny on Wednesday at 8 p.m. and South Carolina-Beaufort on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.