University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown
Pitt-Johnstown Seal

vs. Wheeling Jesuit (WV) University - 12/15/12

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ATH11_057_NovakN_TMountain Cats Hold Off Wheeing Jesuit, 79-71
     12/15/12... (Box Score) The Mountain Cats got a game-high 27 points from Nick Novak (Murrysville, Pa.) and built a 12-point second half lead on they way to closing out the first semester with a 79-71 WVIAC victory over Wheeling Jesuit (WV) University, Saturday afternoon in the Sports Center.  Pitt-Johnstown has won three straight games and improved to 6-2 overall and 3-2 in conference-play. 
     Wheeling Jesuit opened-up a 16-11 lead seven minutes into the game on a Justin Fritts 3-pointer, but the Mountain Cats answered with a with a 12-0 run over the next three minutes to build a seven-point advantage of their own on Nick Novak's (Murrysville, Pa.) breakaway dunk.
     Recardo Gaddy's lay-up closed a quick 8-2 Cardinals' spurt cut it to 25-24 at at 8:23, but Pitt-Johnstown was able to rebuild the lead to seven at the half.
     Novak's 3-pointer from the corner extended it back to five points, before Jordan Miller (Vinco, Pa.) connected for three with 35 seconds remaining to extend it to 41-34 at the break.
     Fritts' lay-up at 12:23 got Wheeling Jesuit to within two at 49-47, but Noah Hartung (Butler, Pa.) hit a 3-pointer on Pitt-Johnstown's next trip down the floor to ignite an 13-3 Mountain Cat run extend the lead to 12 with 8:05 to play.
     Wheeling Jesuit clawed back to within three on two occasions, with the last coming a Philip Green bucket with 1:11 on the clock.  However, that's as close as the Cardinals could get.
     Novak led all scorers and four Pitt-Johnstown players in double figures with 27 points on 10-16 shooting and 6-7 from the free-throw line.  Bill Luther (Gibsonia, Pa.) had 12 points, and Andrew Cressler (Pittsburgh, Pa.) added 11 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.  Hartung had 10 points and five rebounds, and Paul Weatherly (Johnstown, Pa.) chipped-in nine points off the bench.  Ian Vescovi (Patton, Pa) pulled down 12 rebounds in the win. 
     Novak currently stands in fourth-place on the Mountain Cat All-Time Scoring List with 1,593 points and third on the assists list with 434, while Miller is second on the all-time 3-point field goal list (234) and 18th on the scoring list with (1,109 pts.).
     The Mountain Cats ended the day shooting 48.3% (29-60) from the field, 6-18 from 3-point range, and 15-23 from the free-throw line.  The Cardinals were held to just 36.2% (25-69) shooting, including just 7-30 from behind the 3-point line.  Wheeling Jesuit was also 14-19 from the charity stripe.
      Fritts had 22 points and Darin Harris tallied 11 points and eight rebounds for the Cardinals, who dropped to 2-4 overall and 0-3 in the WVIAC.
     The Mountain Cats will break for the holiday season, before opening the spring semester with a WVIAC doubleheader with the Lady Cats against Shepherd (WV) University on January 3.  The Lady Cats will tip-off at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men's game at 7:30 p.m.


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