Men's Basketball 6/13/2013 3:34:00 PM

Jordan Miller Breaks Single-Game Three-Pointer Mark in Mountain Cats' Win Over Salem International

12/05/2009

After just five games into his collegiate career, Jordan Miller (Mineral Point, Pa.) already has his name in the Mountain Cat basketball record books. Miller poured in a career-high 32 points and connected on 10 three-pointers to break the Mountain Cat single-game record and lead Pitt-Johnstown to a 96-70 win over visiting Salem International (WV) University, Saturday night in the Sports Center.
The Mountain Cats snapped a three-game losing skid and improved to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in the WVIAC.
Miller, who hit 10-13 from behind the three-point line, broke Josue Nieves' and Quinton Davis' previous record of eight in a game. Nieves hit eight against West Chester University on February 16, 2000, and Davis matched it on February 11, 2008 against West Liberty State (WV) College.
As a team, The Mountain Cats made 20 of their 35 three-pointers.
Danny Branch's (Washington, D.C.) three-pointer gave Pitt-Johnstown an 11-2 lead six minutes into the game.
Salem International cut it to 11-7 with 13:29 left in the first half on Kendall Allison's three-pointer, before the Mountain Cats used a 23-8 run over the next 6:53, highlighted by four three-pointers from Miller.
The Tigers answered to close the gap to 36-33 with an 18-2 run of their own, capped by Samuel Smith's three-pointer from the corner with 2:06 left. Pitt-Johnstown closed out the first half with baskets from Patrick Grubbs (Turtle Creek, Pa.) and Nick Novak (Murrysville, Pa.) to take a 41-36 halftime lead.
Andy Byer's (Tire Hill, Pa.) three-pointer pushed the Mountain Cat lead back into double-digits at 52-41 with just over five minutes played in the second half. Branch followed with two more three-pointers, and Novak added a lay-up to make it 62-43 at 13:15 and match the 19-point lead Pitt-Johnstown had in the first half.
Salem International battled back to cut it to 14 with 12:26 to play, but that was as close as it would get. Miller added six more three-pointers in the second half to help build Pitt-Johnstown's lead to as many as 28 with 4:52 left on the clock, before going on to the 26-point win.
Miller finished with a game-high 32 points on 10-14 shooting, including 10-13 from three-point range to lead five Mountain Cats who scored in double-figures. Branch had 16 points, including five three-pointers to move into eighth place on the Pitt-Johnstown All-Time Three-Point Field Goal List, while Novak added 14 points and six assists. Grubbs and Byer each scored 11 points. Byer also had three three-pointers and matched Novak for game-high with six assists.
Pitt-Johnstown wrapped up the night shooting 59.3% (35-59) from the field and 57.1% from behind the three-point arc.
Allison led Salem International with 16 points. Smith had 11 points and six rebounds, while Demetrick Walker and Emile Payne each scored 10 points for the Tigers, who fell to 0-6 overall and 0-2 in the WVIAC.
The Mountain Cats host non-conference games against Clarion University on Monday and Penn State-New Kensington on Wednesday, before finishing the first semester at Bloomsburg University on Saturday at 3 p.m. Both home games will tip-off at 7:30 p.m. in the Sports Center.

Print Friendly Version