JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - The Mercyhurst men's basketball team got a season-high 26 points from
Cameron Gross and put five players in double-figures to hold off the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Mountain Cats by a final of 82-74 on Wednesday night in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division action at the Sports Center. With the win the Lakers denied UPJ head coach Bob Rukavina his 500th career win and knocked off a team that was receiving votes in the Top-25.
Pitt-Johnstown got off to the fast start as Caiden Landis scored five points to help the home side to a 7-2 lead just two minutes in. Gross trimmed the score to 7-4, before Marcin Wiszomirski and Josh Wise picked up seven straight points to extend the advantage to double-figures at 14-4. Buckets from
Zach McIntire and
Steve Cannady aided by a Gross triple cut the deficit to 16-11 with 12:07 to play in the first half.
MiyKah McIntosh stuck a three as well a minute later and the Lakers were to within 16-14. After a layup by John Paul Kromka made it 18-14,
Michael Bradley had the margin right back at two with a pull-up jay 18-16 at the 10:02 mark. Gross delivered a layup to tie the score 18-18, but the was short-lived as Joe Batt drilled a jumper just before the under eight media timeout to make it 20-18. The Lakers would tie things back up at 20-20 and 22-22, before they got their first lead of the game when Bradley found
Nicholas Lang for a three to go in front 25-22 with five minutes to go. A 4-0 Mountain Cats charge put them back ahead 26-25, but Lang had other ideas as he stuck another triple for the 28-26 edge. Mercyhurst continued the strong shooting from deep as McIntire knocked down a three just prior to halftime to have the visitors on top through 20-minutes 31-30.
The Lakers continued to extend their lead coming out of the break as Lang netted four and Gross added two making it 37-30 not even 90-seconds in. Wise and Landis cut the gap to 37-33, before back-to-back triples from Gross and Bradley gave the guests a double-digit advantage 43-33 with 16:38 left. Landis, Wise, and Kromka put together a 10-4 run finished by a Wise layup to trim the Mercyhurst edge to 47-43. UPJ would earn their next six points all at the foul line with the Lakers only basket coming from McIntosh to lead 52-49 still with 12:00 remaining. Mercyhurst maintained the three-point cushion to 58-55, but then a free throw from Wiszomirski along with layup by Landis knotted the game at 58-58 leading to a visitor timeout at the 11:48 mark. A triple by McIntire sparked an 8-4 charge from Mercyhurst to pull the guests in front by a 66-62 score with six minutes to play. The Lakers continued to hold onto at least a three-point lead until a left-corner three by McIntosh and a driving layup for Bradley extended the lead to 76-70 under three minutes left. Mercyhurst would put the game away at the foul line outscoring the Mountain Cats 6-4 down the stretch for the 82-74 win.
The Lakers shot 47.5% from the field, 40% outside the arc, and 88.9% on the foul line, while Pitt-Johnstown was 49.1% from the floor, only 20% at long range, and 65.2% from the charity line. Mercyhurst held a slim 33-32 edge on the glass.
Gross finished one rebound shy of a double-double scoring a team-high 26 and grabbed nine boards. Bradley and McIntire each had 13, while McIntosh and Lang chipped in 10 apiece.
Joel Ufele had six boards.
Pitt-Johnstown had four in double-figures led by Wise with 18. Landis (13), Wiszomirski (11), and Kromka (10) hit double-digits as well. Landis had a team-high eight boards.
Mercyhurst will continue PSAC West play when they entertain Gannon University in the first Porreco Pride of Erie Cup Game of the season on Saturday at 7:30 pm inside the Mercyhurst Athletic Center.
