Johnstown, Pa. – The Edinboro men's basketball team took the lead late and held off a late charge to score a key 72-71 win over Pitt-Johnstown Wednesday night in PSAC West action.
Ryan Smith tied the game, 66-66, with 3:38 to play. Edinboro answered with a
Cenker Evran layup at the 3:18 mark.
Steve Kelly hit a jumper at the free throw line making the score 70-66 Fighting Scots with 1:30 to play. Kelly was called for a flop on the play and Smith hit the free throw cutting the lead to 70-67. On the ensuing possession, Smith scored again to cut the lead to 70-69. Kelly pushed the lead to 72-69 with a layup with 56 seconds to play. Sean Dillon hit a layup with 49 seconds left to pull within 72-71. After a Scot turnover, Smith missed a 3-pointer and Evran pulled in the rebound to secure the win for the Scots.
Edinboro trailed 35-33 at the half and came out of the locker room with a 5-2 spurt to grab a 38-37 lead at the 18:51 mark of the second half. The Mountain Cats responded with a 10-4 run capped by a Dillon basket with 16:49 on the clock.
The Scots answered with a 16-10 run with five different players scoring during the run to grab a 53-48 advantage with 12:53 to play. Evran extended the lead to 57-51 with a layup at the 10:34 mark of the second half. The Mountain Cats scored the next eight points to pull ahead 59-57 after a pair of Will Kromka free throws with 6:56 to play.
In the first half, UPJ got out to a 18-9 lead after a Dillon layup at the 12:03 mark. The Scots went on an 8-4 run to cut the lead to 22-17 after a
Daunte Wilcott trey with 8:25 left in the first half. Elijah Sechler pushed the lead back out to 26-17 with 7:12 on the clock.
Edinboro pushed back with an 11-3 run capped by a
Ryan Ladjevich 3-pointer with 1:59 left in the first half. Jay Rose pushed the lead back to 31-28 with a layup on the next possession. The teams traded free throws and Ladjevich hit another triple to knot the score 33-33 with 42 seconds on the clock. Vinnie Cugini hit a pair of free throws to give the Mountain Cats a 35-33 halftime lead.
Evran scored his 11
th double-double of the season with 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting to go with 12 rebounds as well as two blocks. Kelly added 16 points, eight assists and three rebounds. Ladjevich also tallied 16 points to go with six rebounds. Wilcott also reached double figures with 12 points.
Smith paced the Mountain Cats with 15 points. Dillon added 13 while Cugini finished with 12.
The Scots are back in action on Saturday when they host Gannon at 3 p.m. inside McComb Fieldhouse.
