JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Pitt-Johnstown ratcheted up the pressure late in a furious comeback attempt before eventually falling short in a narrow 88-82 setback to IUP on Wednesday night at the Sports Center.

The Mountain Cats dropped to 11-12 (5-10 PSAC) after what was coach Bob Rukavina's 999th career game roaming the sidelines.

Baden Forup secured his 10th straight and 16th double-double of the season with a team-best 24 points and 10 rebounds. He finished 11 of 16 from the floor and added a game-high four steals.

Adam Bilinsky knocked in three 3-pointers and finished with 20 points, four assists and three steals. Cedric Rault added 18 points and passed out a team-high eight assists.

Despite falling into a 54-39 hole roughly five minutes into the second half, the Mountain Cats eventually closed to within eight on Forup's layup that made it 60-52 with 11:36 left.

Pitt-Johnstown then whittled the lead down to four on two occasions over the final four minutes. Rault notched a conventional 3-point play that cut it to 77-73 with 3:25 left. IUP pushed it back to nine-point lead before a 3-pointer from Bilinsky trimmed it to 84-80 with 36 seconds to play.

IUP connected on four free throws over the final 28 seconds to shut down the Mountain Cats' comeback attempt.

The score was tied on only two occasions, both of them coming over the first 20 minutes. Freshman Ryan Calo scored on a fast-break layup at the 4:49 mark that tied it at 30-all. A 6-0 flurry in the final two minutes helped the Mountain Cats tie the game at 37-all heading into the break.

IUP scored 17 of the first 19 points out of halftime to take control. Christian Moore scored a game-high 26 points for the Crimson Hawks, who moved to 17-4 (11-3 PSAC).

The Mountain Cats held a significant 46-24 edge in points in the paint and a 36-35 rebounding advantage. They also turned 12 IUP turnovers into 15 points.

Pitt-Johnstown will host Edinboro in a 3 p.m. tip-off on Saturday at the Sports Center.