JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Pitt-Johnstown hung around until the bitter end of an 84-80 loss to California (Pa.) on Wednesday night at the Sports Center.

The Mountain Cats dropped to 11-14 (5-12 PSAC) with just three regular-season games left.

Junior forward Baden Forup secured his 12th straight and 18th double-double of the season with 17 points and a team-high 13 rebounds. Vinnie Cugini hit three 3-pointers and finished with 17 points and four rebounds.

Adam Bilinsky added 10 points, five rebounds and four assists. Cedric Rault contributed nine points, a game-high eight assists and four rebounds, while Will Kromka chipped in nine points with six rebounds.

Trailing 47-40 early on in the second half, Kromka's 3-pointer capped a 13-4 run that spanned more than three and a half minutes. The 53-51 advantage was the Mountain Cats' first lead since it was 4-2 less than two minutes in.

Cugini's layup with 11:54 left extended Pitt-Johnstown's lead to 59-53, its largest of the game. The Vulcans answered with a 12-0 run that placed the Mountain Cats in a 65-59 deficit that they could not overcome down the stretch.

Pitt-Johnstown, however, clawed back to within a point on two occasions over the final six-plus minutes, the last time coming on Forup's layup that trimmed it to 71-70. California (Pa.) pushed back with a 9-0 run that put the game out of reach with a minute left.

The Mountain Cats finished 44.7% (34 of 76) from the floor and 36.4% (8 of 22) from beyond the 3-point arc. They were down by as many as 10 in the first half before heading into the break down 43-38.

Bryson Lucas recorded 22 points and 14 rebounds for the Vulcans, who moved to 18-6 (15-2 PSAC).

Pitt-Johnstown will visit No. 5 Gannon for a 3 p.m. tip-off on Saturday, Feb. 21.