Pitt-Johnstown Holds Off Mounties

MANSFIELD – Thomas Moore scored a game-high 19 points and Mansfield rallied from a 24 point deficit midway through the second half but fell short in a 91-82 loss to Pitt-Johnstown in a PSAC crossover contest Saturday afternoon at First Citizens Community Bank Court.

Mansfield jumped out to a 4-0 lead on layups by Joe Marshall and Da'Quan Jones before Pitt-Johnstown used a 12-4 run over the final five minutes to take a 52-37 lead into halftime.

Pitt-Johnstown maintained its double-digit lead throughout much of the second half, extending it to 76-52 on a layup by Rasaun Mosley with just over 11 minutes remaining.

The scrappy Mountaineers refused to fold using a 3-pointer by Eric Lewis Jr. to ignite 13-0 run, keyed by four steals, to close the gap to 76-65 three minutes later on a layup by Moore.

Pitt-Johnstown built the lead to 81-65 before Mansfield made another run keyed by a steal, layup and 3-pointer by Gerisimos Koutoufas, pulling the Mounties within seven points at 83-76 with just over four minutes remaining.

Mansfield still trailed by seven points when Matt Tamanosky hit a layup with just over three minutes remaining but could pull no closer.

Both team shot better than 50% from the floor while Pitt-Johnstown held a slight 33-29 rebound advantage.

In addition to his 19 points, Moore dished out eight assist and pulled down seven rebounds with three steals. Tamanosky scored 17 points to extend his run of double-digit games to 10 and also pulled down a game-high eight rebounds. Koutoufas had 16 points off the bench hitting 6-of-8 from the floor including 4-of-5 3-point attempts.

Dale Clancy led five players in double-figures for Pitt-Johnstown with 19 points.

Mansfield is off final finals week before hosting Shippensburg on Dec. 16.