JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Adam Bilinsky delivered a career-high 35 points to lead five Mountain Cats in double-figures as Pitt-Johnstown pulled away late for a 97-88 PSAC West victory over Seton Hill on Wednesday night in the Sports Center.
Bilinsky, who also tallied six rebounds and five assists, connected on a career-best six 3-pointers and finished a near-perfect 13 of 14 from the field to help the Mountain Cats improve to 11-9 (5-7 PSAC).
Baden Forup supplied his 13th double-double of the season with 18 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Freshman Ryan Calo drilled three triples off the bench and finished with a career-high 15 points to go along with five assists, four rebounds and two blocks.
Will Kromka contributed 10 points and four assists, and Vinnie Cugini chipped in 10 points and three rebounds.
In a contest that featured nine ties and 15 lead changes, neither team grabbed an advantage of more than five points throughout the opening 20 minutes.
Trailing 15-13, Bilinsky capped off an 8-0 run with a conventional three-point play that gave the Mountain Cats a 21-15 edge at the 13:14 mark of the first half.
After being put in a 35-30 deficit, Pitt-Johnstown eventually rebounded and took the lead again on a 3-pointer by Bilinsky that made it 43-42 with less than two minutes to go before the break.
The Mountain Cats went into the locker room down 46-43. Bilinsky, however, swung the momentum back by scoring his team's first 13 points of the second half. It was enough for the Mountain Cats to carve out a 56-53 advantage that never faded away down the stretch.
On the strength of a season-best 63.6% (35 of 55) performance from the field and 61.9% (13 of 21) from beyond the 3-point arc, the Mountain Cats pulled away over the final 10 minutes. Pitt-Johnstown currently ranks No. 3 in all of Division II in field goal percentage at 52.2%.
They went up by as many as 15 on a 3-pointer from Calo at the 7:30 mark and carried at least a six-point edge the rest of the way.
Rashaad Williams tallied a team-high 26 points for the Griffins, who dropped to 13-7 (7-6 PSAC).
Pitt-Johnstown will visit California (Pa.) for a 3 p.m. tip-off on Saturday.
