University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown
Pitt-Johnstown Seal

vs. Fairmont State (WV) University - 11/27/12

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ATH11_057_NovakN_TMountain Cats Suffer WVIAC Loss to Fairmont State
     11/27/12... (Box Score) Chase Morgan's 3-pointer gave Fairmont State (WV) University a one-point lead with a minute to play, and Isaac Thornton sealed it with two free-throws with eight seconds left to lift the Fighting Falcons to an 85-81 WVIAC victory over the Mountain Cats, Tuesday night in the Sports Center.  Nick Novak's (Murrysville, Pa.) 21 points led five Pitt-Johnstown double figure scorers.  The Mountain Cats slipped to 3-2 overall and 1-2 in the WVIAC. 
     In a back-and-forth first half, Isaac Thornton's lay-up six minutes into the game gave Fairmont State a slim 13-12 advantage.
     Pitt-Johnstown got consecutive baskets from Ian Vescovi (Patton, Pa.) and a bucket in the paint from Novak in a quick 6-0 run to put the Mountain Cats up 18-13 at 11:38.
     The Fighting Falcons countered with a 13-3 run over the next three minutes, capped by Isaiah Hill's basket with 8:39 remaining in the half, to give the lead back to Fairmont State at 26-22.
      It stayed close the rest of the way.  Two more of Vescovi's 12 first half points gave the lead back to the Mountain Cats with 34 seconds left in the half, but Stevie Browning connected on a 3-pointer with time running out to put Fairmont State up 46-44 at the break.
     The Fighting Falcons opened the second half with a 16-6 spurt to go up 62-50 on another Browning basket at 15:24.
     The Mountain Cats stormed back with a 16-4 run over the next seven minutes.  Three-pointers from Andrew Cressler (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Noah Hartung (Butler, Pa.), and Paul Weatherly (Johnstown, Pa.) helped get the dificit down to two, before Bill Luther (Gibsonia, Pa.) connected for three to give the lead back to the Mountain Cats at 67-66 with 8:31 to play.
    However, Morgan nailed a 3-pointer with a minute to go to put the Fighting Falcons back into lead, and Fairmont State made four stright free-throws in the final 21 seconds to secure the win.
     Novak had a team-highs of 21 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists, while Cressler scored 17 points and grabbed five rebounds.  Vescovi finished with 15 points and five rebounds.  Luther had 12 points and five rebounds, and Jordan Miller (Vinco, Pa.) rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points and four assists. 
     Novak currently stands in sixth-place on the Mountain Cat All-Time Scoring List with 1,517 points and sixth on the assists list with 412, while Miller is second on the all-time 3-point field goal list (226) and 19th on the scoring list with (1,073 pts.).
     The Mountain Cats shot 47.5% (28-59), including 11-22 from 3-point range.  Pitt-Johnstown was also 14-17 from the charity stripe.  Fairmont State shot 47.8% (33-69) from the floor, 5-12 from behind the 3-point line, and 14-16 from the free-throw line.
     Isaiah Hill led all scorers with 26 points and nine rebounds, and Morgan chipped-in 21 points to lead then Fighting Falcons, who improved to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the WVIAC. 
     The Mountain Cats travel to Davis & Elkins (WV) College for a WVIAC game on Saturday, before closing out the first semester in the Sports Center with a non-conference game against Bowie State (MD) University on December 5 at 7 p.m. and a WVIAC game against Wheeling Jesuit (WV) University on December 15 at 3 p.m. 


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