JOHNSTOWN — Maybe Pitt-Johnstown just needed some time to warm up.
The Mountain Cats outscored visiting Bluefield State 51-13 over the final 17 minutes to break open a close game and deal the Big Blues an 89-46 loss on Saturday night.
Patrick Grubbs scored
14 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead a UPJ attack that saw all 10 players score at least two points. It was the second straight victory for the Mountain Cats (11-9, 7-8 in WVIAC).
UPJ blocked 12 shots and hit 59 percent (36-for-61) from the field. Coach Bob Rukavina’s Mountain Cats were 11-for-21 from 3-point range while the Big Blues (3-16, 3-11) shot
27.9 percent from the floor, including a 4-for-20 performance from behind the 3-point line.
Bluefield State went up 4-3 on Sean Weatherspoon’s layup three minutes into the game, but Nick Novak’s 3-pointer the next time down the floor gave the lead back to UPJ at 6-4.
The Mountain Cats never trailed again. Central Cambria graduate Jordan Miller hit a
3-pointer to push the lead to nine at 25-16 with a little more than nine minutes left in the half.
The Big Blues scored the next six points to pull within three at 25-22 on another Weatherspoon basket in the paint.
UPJ answered with an 11-2 run over the final 7:36 to build a 12-point halftime lead.
Bluefield State outscored UPJ 9-2 over the first three minutes of the second half to pull within five at 38-33 on Stephen Neal’s bucket.
However, UPJ used a 25-3 run over the next 7:53 to put the Big Blues away.
Miller finished with 13 points while Rudy Roberts had
11 points and eight rebounds.
Novak and Danny Branch had 10 points apiece.
Weatherspoon led Bluefield State with 12 points and eight rebounds. Rico Thompson had 10 points, and Neal had eight points and a game-high nine rebounds for the Big Blues.
