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vs. University of Charleston (WV) - 01/28/12

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ATH11_057_NovakN_TMountain Cats Suffer 79-69 Loss to Charleston
     01/28/12... (Box Score) The University of Charleston (WV) used a 14-7 run to close out the first half and build a seven point halftime advantage on their way to handing the Mountain Cats a 79-69 WVIAC loss, Saturday afternoon in the Sports Center.  Nick Novak's (Murrysville, Pa.) 19 points led the way for Pitt-Johnstown, now 10-8 and 8-5 in the WVIAC.
     In a tight first half, the Mountain Cats opened the scoring on a Novak lay-up.  That proved to be Pitt-Johnstown's largest lead of the half.
     P.J. Reyes connected on a 3-pointer to put Charleston up 20-16 nine minutes in, but Matt Palo's (North Huntingdon, Pa.) bucket for Pitt-Johnstown at 6:05 knotted the game at 24 to mark the seventh tie of the first half.
     However, the Golden Eagles doubled-up up the Mountain Cats 14-7 the rest of the way to build a seven-point halftime advantage.
      Charleston would never trail again.  Two Marco Richardson free-throws with under a minute remaining gave Charleston its largest lead of the half at nine, before Patrick Grubbs (Turtle Creek, Pa.) and Palo made a free-throw each to cut it to 38-31 at the break.
     Five straight points from Reyes to start the second half extended the run to 19-7 and pushed the Golden Eagles' lead to 43-31.
     Pitt-Johnstown got six points from Grubbs in a 12-2 run over the next five minutes to pull to within two at 45-43, but Charleston scored the next five to push it back out to a seven-point game at the 12:19 mark.
     The Mountain Cats battled back to within four on four at 65-61 on Paul Weatherly's (Johnstown, Pa.) lay-up, but Pitt-Johnstown never got any closer.
     Charleston quickly increased it back to nine on an Evan Faulkner 3-pointer with 3:51 left, before the Golden Eagles seal the win by hitting 9-10 free-throws in in final 1:06.
     Novak led three Mountain Cats who scored in double figures with 19 points and six rebounds.  Grubbs had 12 points and eight boards, while Jordan Miller (Vinco, Pa.) added 12 points and five assists.  Weatherly collected seven points and six assists, and Palo chipped-in six points off the bench.        
     Grubbs stands in third-place on the Mountain Cat All-Time Scoring List with 1,573 points and second on the all-time rebounding list with 902 rebounds, just 43 shy of Don Elzer of the Pitt-Johnstown record.  Novak is 13th on the scoring list with 1,214 points and eighth on the assists list with 342, while Jordan Miller is third on the all-time 3-point field goal list with 175.
     The Mountain Cats ended the day shooting 49.1% (26-53) from the field, but just 4-11 from 3-point range and 13-20 from the free-throw line.  Charleston was held to 40.6%, but made seven 3-pointers and 16-19 from the charity stripe.
     Reyes led all scorers with 26 points and five rebounds. Faulkner had 13 points, and Eladio Espinosa tallied seven points and a game-high 15 rebounds to pace the Golden Eagles, now 16-5 overall and 11-4 in the WVIAC.
     The Mountain Cats travel to a WVIAC game at Fairmont State (WV) College on Wednesday, before hosting a conference doubleheader with the Lady Cats against Bluefield State (WV) College on Saturday in the Sports Center.  The Lady Cats will tip-off at 1 p.m., with the men's game at 3 p.m.


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