INDIANA, Pa. — Pitt-Johnstown could not close the gap in the waning seconds of a 75-73 season-opening loss to Lincoln at IUP's Hilton Garden Inn Tip-Off Classic on Friday night at Memorial Field House.

Sophomore guard Jay Rose narrowly missed what in all likelihood would have been a game-winning three just before the buzzer as the Mountain Cats fell to 0-1.

Rose provided a team-high 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting, along with four rebounds and two steals in 25 minutes off the bench.

Freshman Cedric Rault contributed 16 points, five assists and four steals in his team-high 38 minutes. Fellow freshman Ryan Calo scored 11 points and recorded two of Pitt-Johnstown's three 3-pointers in his first collegiate game.

Baden Forup supplied 10 points and six rebounds, while Will Kromka chipped in five points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Tied at 66-all, Calo connected on a triple to give the Mountain Cats a 69-66 edge with 2:33 remaining. Rault drove inside for a layup less than a minute later to extend the lead to five. Lincoln, however, responded by scoring nine of the next 11 points over the final 90 seconds to close it out.

Adam Bilinsky had a tip-in with less than 10 seconds to play to cut the deficit to two before the Mountain Cats forced a turnover on the ensuing inbounds pass to give them one last shot.

There were four lead changes in a game that Pitt-Johnstown led 41-39 after the first 20 minutes. That was despite the Mountain Cats being down by as many as six on three separate occasions in the early going. They held a 40-38 advantage in points in the paint and a 34-16 edge in points off the bench.

Pitt-Johnstown shot 48.5% (17-of-35) from the floor in the first half and finished at 46.2% (30-of-65).

Bonard Johnson secured game-highs of 25 points and six steals for Lincoln (1-0), which will take on IUP at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday in the final game of the tournament.

Pitt-Johnstown will clash with Concord at 5:15 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Field House.