JOHNSTOWN, Pa. -- The Mercyhurst men's basketball team suffered a 67-64 loss to Pittsburgh-Johnstown on Saturday during Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference competition.

The Lakers (4-6, 7-7) led nearly the entire contest before the host Mountain Cats (5-6, 7-8) pushed ahead during the final two minutes.

Lorenzo Collier led Mercyhurst with 24 points while Patrick Smith tallied his sixth double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Malcolm Walters scored 12 points.

UPJ had four scorers in double-figures, including leader Josh Wise, who put in 23 points. Isaac Vescovi finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, Levi Masua scored 12 points and Dale Clancy had 10 points.

The Lakers jumped out to a 9-0 lead to start the game, getting seven of those points from Collier. MU led 36-28 at hafltime and pushed the gap to 12 points on three occasions during the second half.

The host Cats chipped away at the deficit, tying the game on a Clancy layup with 1:55 to go.

After a fruitless Mercyhurst possession, Pitt-Johnstown took the lead at 63-62 when Masua made 1 of 2 free throw attempts. The Lakers again failed to score on their next possession before Clancy pushed the Cat advantage to 65-62 with 22 seconds remaining.

Smith pulled the Lakers within 65-64 with a layup and then Vescovi hit a pair of free throws for UPJ before a buzzer-beating, three-point attempt by Collier missed its mark.

Mercyhurst will play its next game on Wednesday when it visits Gannon for a 7:30 p.m. start.