Pitt-Johnstown never quite closed the gap after a second half rally from Gannon contributed to an 86-71 loss on Senior Day on Saturday afternoon at the Sports Center.
The Mountain Cats, still very much alive in the postseason hunt, slipped to 11-15 (7-12 PSAC).
Before the game tipped off, Pitt-Johnstown's four seniors, Ryan Smith, Sean Dillon, Elijah Sechler and Tyler Bilinsky were honored for their dedication to the program.Â
Smith etched his name in the history books after becoming the 35th player in program history to surpass 1,000 career points. After transferring in from Seton Hill, Dillon also reached the milestone in a game earlier this season against Clarion
Baden Forup rolled up team-highs of 17 points and eight rebounds. He also added three steals and went 6-for-9 from the field and 5-of-6 at the free-throw line. Jay Rose added 15 points, three rebounds and two steals in 22 minutes. Smith, the longest tenured Mountain Cat on the roster, contributed 12 points and six rebounds.
The Mountain Cats put the pressure on early, creating enough chaos to take a 14-13 advantage thanks to a steal and score in transition from Adam Bilinsky.
Despite Gannon wrestling the lead back, Pitt-Johnstown battled back to take the lead on a layup from Forup that made it 28-27 with 4:30 remaining in the first half.
Rose connected on two free throws with less than two minutes left to give the Mountain Cats a four-point edge at 35-31, their largest of the game. They went into the break up 35-33.
But Gannon began the second half hot and took a 39-37 lead it would never relinquish on a 3-pointer from Justin Debuck just 93 seconds into the half.
The Mountain Cats eventually scratched to within two at 50-48 with less than 14 minutes to go in the game on a triple from Rose, but it's as close as they would get to tying it. The Golden Knights went up by 12 with less than 10 minutes to play and held that margin steady from there.
Pitt-Johnstown will conclude the regular-season with a visit to Seton Hill on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. The de-facto playoff game winner will put themselves in prime position to clinch a PSAC Tournament spot.
