Mountain Cats defend the home court

College

Discussion

November 30, 2008

By SAMUEL LEGG The Tribune-Democrat Sun Nov 30, 2008, 12:17 AM EST

Would a basketball coach rather have mostly seniors on the court to start a game as opposed to mainly freshmen?

Just ask Pitt-Johnstwon coach Bob Rukavina.

UPJ’s four fifth-year seniors were no match for former Mountain Cats assistant and current Bloomsburg head coach John Sanow, who started three freshmen Saturday night at the Sports Center.

The Mountain Cats netted 60 points from their quartet en route to a 95-73 victory over the Huskies to open the season perfect at 5-0.

“When you have four fifth-year seniors in the starting lineup, it makes things a lot easier,” said Rukavina, who is in his 20th season guiding UPJ. “These guys have been through it. They’re all very good leaders, and that’s so important. We’re really playing good basketball right now.”

One of UPJ’s eight losses last season happened at Bloomsburg, 57-51, on Dec. 5, leaving the Mountain Cats at 3-3. UPJ went on to win 20 of its next 25 games.

Mountain Cats senior guard Quinton Davis led all scorers Saturday with 23 points and had a game-high eight assists.

Fellow upperclassmen Marcus Tullis scored 20, including a dunk off an inbound set-play, Matt Ionadi had 13 points and point guard William Sharpe added four points and seven assists.

“In practice that’s all we work on is taking care of the ball,” said Ionadi, who was introduced prior to the game as the Penn Hills Italian Stallion. “The past couple of years, even when we were younger, just always take care of the ball and lead the country in assists, working as a team. We’re all such close friends it’s easy for us.”

UPJ freshman Patrick Grubbs scored 14 and collected nine boards.

The Mountain Cats, who are ranked No. 20 in this week’s NABC Division II national poll, only trailed once, by two points with 19:01 left in the first half before going on a 15-0 run over the next three minutes.

“We been actually working, just recently, the past few days on trying to push the ball up more, and we really did a good job of doing that,” Rukavina said. “And trying to get some easy baskets, which we did.”

UPJ’s run-and-gun offense surged to its first 25-point advantage, 45-20, on a Travis King basket with 5:33 left in the half.

“Pitt-Johnstown’s very good,” said Sanow, who also was an assistant with the St. Francis men. “They just play so well together and execute on both ends of the floor. They’re one of the best passing teams in all of Division II.”

The Mountain Cats stretched their advantage to 34 points on a Davis layup with 10:13 left in the game, and subbed liberally after that.

Bloomsburg (2-3), which is a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, was led by junior guard Ruben Britt’s 21 points.

Freshmen Larry Webster had 17 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and fellow underclassman Ronnie Benson added 11 points.

“We’re trying to build our program with young players and it’s going to take time,” said Sanow.

The Mountain Cats will get their biggest test of the season at Shippensburg University on Monday to begin a stretch of five straight road games.

“We just looking to play hard, and just keep doing what we’ve been doing, practice hard,” Ionadi said. “It starts in practice. Practice hard and play hard.”

Text Only | Photo Reprints

College

College basketball in brief
A closer look at Thursday night's men's and women's college basketball games:

February 9, 2012
Penn State men absorb fifth straight loss
Penn State refused to be routed the first time No. 11 Michigan State had a chance to pull away for an easy victory.
The Nittany Lions, though, couldn’t stay consistent enough to keep their comeback hopes alive.

February 8, 2012 1 Photo
South Florida rebounds with win over Pitt
South Florida’s Hugh Robertson combined a perfect night offensively with a stellar defensive performance that helped the Bulls rebound from their worst-ever Big East loss.
Robertson had a season-high 18 points and helped USF
(14-10, 7-4) hold Pittsburgh star Ashton Gibbs to a season-low four points in a 63-51 victory over the Panthers on Wednesday night. Augustus Gilchrist added 10 points for the Bulls, who lost by 30 points at Georgetown last weekend.

February 8, 2012 1 Photo
Local sports in brief 2-9-2012
February 8, 2012
Michigan board gives go-ahead on Winter Classic
The University of Michigan Board of Regents on Wednesday authorized athletic director Dave Brandon to seek a contract with the NHL that would allow the league to hold next year’s Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium.

February 8, 2012
Pitt-Johnstown wrestlers dominate Seton Hill
Pat Pecora picked up his NCAA Division II record 498th career victory on Tuesday night, but just like almost every other one, he saw some things that his Pitt-Johnstown wrestling team could improve upon.

February 7, 2012
Happy Valley readies itself for a new brand of football under Bill O’Brien
White placards with a set of rules were affixed to the glass doors of the players’ entrance at the Penn State football building about the time Bill O’Brien agreed to become the school’s next football coach.

February 6, 2012 1 Photo
Panthers win fourth consecutive game
Pittsburgh senior Ashton Gibbs is a happy man now that his backcourt mate, junior Tray Woodall, is back and healthy in the starting lineup. He’s almost as happy as Woodall, who recovered from a groin/abdominal strain to turn in one of his best performances of the season.

February 5, 2012 1 Photo
Panthers looking to extend winning streak
Even as the losses piled up, Pitt’s men’s basketball coach Jamie Dixon said his players never abandoned hope. That can be tough in the face of an eight-game losing streak stretching from December into January.

February 4, 2012
Nittany Lions drop 4th in a row
Bryce Cartwright has been in and out of Iowa’s starting lineup all season. Now the senior looks like he’s there to stay.
Cartwright, bothered with concussion-like symptoms earlier this season, scored 17 points to lead the Hawkeyes to a 77-64 victory over Penn State on Saturday.

February 4, 2012
More College Headlines

College

Search Results

Discussion

Mountain Cats defend the home court

Do you support Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed state budget for fiscal year 2012-13?

Contact Us