EDINBORO, Pa. (February 25, 2015) – Sam Sealy-James scored a career-high 19 points as the Edinboro men's basketball team secured its first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament berth since the 2012-13 season with a 92-78 triumph over visiting Pitt-Johnstown on Wednesday night at McComb Fieldhouse. The Fighting Scots celebrated Senior Night with the win, as Edinboro recognized Sealy-James and classmate Casey Baker prior to the game.
 
Edinboro improves to 14-12 overall and 11-11 in PSAC play with the victory. The Fighting Scots earned the fifth seed for the PSAC Tournament and will travel to Slippery Rock Saturday for a first round matchup with The Rock at 7p.m., marking the first postseason appearance under second-year head coach Pat Cleary.
 

With a Slippery Rock victory over California (Pa.) on Wednesday night, Pitt-Johnstown will also move on to the postseason. The Mountain Cats fell to 12-14 on the season and 9-13 in the conference. The Vulcans finished with an identical 9-13 ledger in PSAC play, but Pitt-Johnstown wins a tiebreaker over California (Pa.) because of a win over The Rock earlier this season.
 
Holding a 19-14 lead with just over 11 minutes remaining in the opening period, the Fighting Scots used a 10-3 run ignited by a Sheldon Brogdon 3-pointer to gain a 29-17 advantage with 7:51 remaining in the first half.
 
A.J. Leahey knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the Edinboro lead to nine points at 29-20 with 7:38 to play in the opening period.
 
This is the last time the Mountain Cats would cut the deficit to single-digits, as the Fighting Scots answered with a 13-2 surge to take their largest lead of the night of 20 points at 42-22. The run was capped by a Sealy-James dunk on an assist by fellow senior Baker. Brogdon keyed the run with five points, while Sealy-James added four markers during the spurt.
 
Pitt-Johnstown outscored Edinboro 8-4 to cut the Fighting Scots' advantage to 16 points at 46-30 at the half.
 
The Mountain Cats would extend the run to 15-6 into the second half, shrinking the Edinboro lead to 11 markers at 48-37 with 17:13 remaining in the contest.
 
The Fighting Scots held that 11-point lead at 57-46 with just over 12 minutes to play, before ripping off a 9-2 run fueled by an old-fashioned 3-point play by Tommy Scales to build their advantage back to 18 points at 66-48 with 10:31 remaining in the game.
 
Pitt-Johnstown would cut the deficit to 12 points on four more occasions, the last coming at the 2:42 mark of the second half. However, Edinboro scored eight of the final 12 points of the game to earn the 92-76 playoff-clinching victory.

Sealy-James topped his previous career-high of 10 points, which he set in Edinboro's last game at Clarion. The 6'9'' center made 9-of-13 shots from the floor to go along with five rebounds on the night. His point total also matched a team-high.
 
Jaymon Mason flirted with a triple-double in the winning effort, tallying 19 points, a career-high nine assists and seven rebounds. He connected on 4-of-8 field goals, 3-of-5 shots from behind the arc and was a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe. The redshirt freshman only surrendered one turnover, as well.

 
Henri Wade-Chatman also scored 19 markers, sinking 8-of-18 shots, including 3-of-8 tries from long range. Sheldon Brogdon was the fourth Fighting Scot to reach double-figures with 13 points off the bench. He was 4-of-7 from the floor, 3-of-5 from downtown and 2-of-2 from the free throw line.
 
Baker dropped in nine points, pulled down seven rebounds and dished out four assists, while Will Marrow added four points, six boards and a career-high seven assists. Tommy Scales contributed seven points and seven rebounds for Edinboro.
 
A.J. Leahey led all scorers with 22 points for the Mountain Cats, making 8-of-12 field goals, including 5-of-9 shots from behind the arc to go along with a team-high eight rebounds.
 
Matt Palo dropped in 20 markers on 8-of-13 shooting.
 
Ian Vescovi added 16 points, moving into 20th on the Pitt-Johnstown all-time scoring list. The senior center now has 1,054 career points, passing Carlos Cogsdell (1,049 career points).

The Fighting Scots shot 52.4 percent (33-of-63) for the game, including a sizzling 60.6 percent (20-of-33) in the first half. Wednesday's game marked the second straight game in which Edinboro shot at least 50 percent from the field. The Fighting Scots connected on 45.0 percent (9-of-20) of 3-pointers and 81.0 percent (17-of-21) of free throws in the win.  
 
Pitt-Johnstown shot well in the loss, finishing 50.9 percent (29-of-57) from the floor. The Mountain Cats were red-hot in the second half, shooting 62.1 percent (19-of-29) after a 39.3 percent (11-of-28) showing in the opening period. Pitt-Johnstown made 36.8 percent (7-of-19) of 3-pointers and 65.0 percent (13-of-20) of shots from the charity stripe.
 
Edinboro held a 38-26 rebounding margin, including a 10-3 edge on the offensive boards, leading to a 16-6 advantage on second-chance points.
 
As a team, the Fighting Scots dished out 24 assists while committing just eight turnovers.
 
Edinboro last qualified for the PSAC Tournament during the 2012-13 season. The Fighting Scots topped Mercyhurst 65-60 in the first round, before dropping a heartbreaker in the quarterfinals to eventual PSAC champion Indiana (Pa.) 89-87 in overtime.
 
Edinboro returns to action in PSAC Tournament First Round action on Saturday, February 28 at Slippery Rock. Tip-off against The Rock is set for 7 p.m.