Despite an efficient afternoon, Pitt-Johnstown succumbed under the weight of 16 3-pointers from Mercyhurst in an 88-73 setback on Saturday in the Sports Center. The Mountain Cats dropped to 5-16 overall and 3-12 in the PSAC West.

Freshman Vinnie Cugini set a new career-high with 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting from the field. Will Kromka contributed 13 points and pulled down six rebounds. Gavin Headings notched 11 points, six rebounds, and four assists.

Pitt-Johnstown led just once, and that came early on when Kromka opened the scoring with a step-back jumper. Mercyhurst methodically built a double-digit lead over the next 10 minutes with the help of eight points from Alexander Parks. Sean Fullerton's 3-pointer made it 25-15 at the 9:33 mark of the first half.

A quick 8-0 rally was capped by a 1-for-2 trip to the line from Nick Watts that brought the Mountain Cats to within 35-29. But the Lakers scored nine of the final 11 points before the half to take a 44-31 lead into the break.

The Lakers connected on eight 3-pointers apiece in each half and finished 51.6% (16 of 31) from distance. They also closed with a 51.6% (32 of 62) mark from the field.

The Mountain Cats racked up a 55.3% (26 of 47) mark from the field and made the most of their trips to the free-throw line, going 17 of 20 (85%). However, they committed 12 turnovers and were outrebounded 30-23 despite having an 18-17 defensive rebounding edge.

A 9-2 Mercyhurst run midway through the second half that included two more 3-pointers from Parks placed Pitt-Johnstown in an insurmountable 68-48 deficit with roughly nine minutes remaining. Parks finished 5-for-10 from long-range and poured in a game-high 23 points for the Lakers, who moved to 11-12 (7-8 PSAC West). Jeff Planutis added 19 points.

Pitt-Johnstown visits Clarion on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.