JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Freshman Angel Ezirim netted a career-high 20 points, and Pitt-Johnstown pulled away in the second half to seal an 82-70 victory in a PSAC West matchup on Saturday afternoon at the Sports Center.

The Mountain Cats have won three out of the last four games and improved to 6-9 (3-5 PSAC).

Riley Childress went 9-for-12 at the free-throw line and finished with 16 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. M'laya Ainsworth shot 7-for-9 from the field and contributed 15 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

It was knotted at 44-all near the midway point of the third quarter before the Mountain Cats seized control. Childress knocked down a three that ignited a 7-2 flurry that was bookended by a layup from Ainsworth that gave Pitt-Johnstown a 51-46 edge that never faded away.

Despite the lead being cut to three shortly thereafter, Ezirim went 2-for-2 at the free-throw line with two seconds left to send the Mountain Cats into the fourth holding a 57-51 advantage.

Pitt-Johnstown went up by double-digits for the first time since early in the second quarter after Angel scored on a layup in transition that made it 61-51 at the 8:13 mark of the fourth. 

That lead was eventually trimmed to five two minutes later, but the Mountain Cats extended it back to nine on two free throws from Liv West and a layup from Ainsworth. 

The gap was never less than eight over the final five minutes. The Mountain Cats shot 76.9% (20 of 26) from the free-throw line, which included a 15-for-20 showing in the fourth to keep the Rock at bay.

The Mountain Cats racked up a 48-24 edge in points in the paint and had a 37-16 advantage in bench points. They also scored 17 points off of 21 Slippery Rock turnovers.

Sophia Hook recorded a team-high 19 points for Slippery Rock, which dropped to 5-9 (3-5 PSAC).

Pitt-Johnstown will visit Edinboro for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off on Wednesday, Jan. 14.