Defense propels Pitt-Johnstown men past West Virginia Wesleyan

Nov. 12—A sluggish start offensively put the Pitt-Johnstown men's basketball team in an early hole.

Ramped-up defense on the other end helped the Mountain Cats make up ground against West Virginia Wesleyan in Friday's nightcap of the Pitt-Johnstown Tip-Off Classic inside the Sports Center.

North Star graduate Andy Zuchelli and Caiden Landis provided a spark off the Pitt-Johnstown bench to lead a key run midway through the first half. Pitt-Johnstown rode the momentum of the surge on its way to a 73-51 victory in front of 557 fans.

"I thought we played really good defense for the most part all the way through," Pitt-Johnstown coach Bob Rukavina said. "We've been stressing that because we've got some very physical guys that can guard the ball. We told them, 'Defense is the constant.' Offensively, we didn't shoot the ball very well for us.

"We usually shoot a little better. If you play defense, it's going to keep you in every game."

Lock Haven defeated Charleston 66-63 in the first game. Pitt-Johnstown plays Charleston at 4 p.m. Saturday.

"It was a good opener," Rukavina said. "It was one of the best crowds since I've been here in 34 years. It was a great crowd. That helps the guys."

Zuchelli, the all-time leading scorer at North Star, tallied career highs of 13 points and five assists in 17-plus minutes off the bench. The 6-foot-2 guard went 5-for-7 from the floor and posted a plus-15 when he was on the court.

"I just try to utilize my minutes every time I get in and do the most I can for my team, try to do everything right and just try to pick us up if we're down," Zuchelli said.

Pitt-Johnstown held West Virginia Wesleyan, which went 2-26 in 2021-22, to 29.8% (17 of 57) shooting from the floor.

"Our defense was huge," Zuchelli said. "We played great defense tonight, I thought. Every day in practice, that's pretty much what we do for two hours. We try to shut teams down."

Seniors Jared Jakubick and John Paul Kromka (three blocks) each tallied 12 points and six rebounds. Twelve different Mountain Cats scored as they dished out 24 assists on 30 made field goals.

The game was scoreless through the first 2:56. A 6-0 run capped by a Landis jumper gave Pitt-Johnstown its first lead at 13-12 with 10:25 left in the first half. Tyler Slone's 3-pointer gave the Bobcats a temporary 15-13 advantage, but Pitt-Johnstown responded with a 7-0 spurt. Landis provided two buckets and Drew Magestro's trey accounted for the final lead change.

Pitt-Johnstown's bench responded at the most opportune time when Kromka, the three-time PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year, was called for his second foul with 8:35 left in the half.

Both teams traded 3-pointers, but Pitt-Johnstown increased its lead with an 8-0 surge to close the half. Zuchelli led all scorers in the first half with nine points. He supplied six points, two coming off Berlin Brothersvalley graduate Elijah Sechler's steal, in a critical 8-0 spurt as Pitt-Johnstown led 31-20 at halftime.

"We got good depth," Rukavina said. "Andy Zuchelli played great coming off the bench. He just knows how to play and does good things. Caiden Landis (eight points) did a great job coming off the bench, too. We got some guys that can play off the bench, which is really going to be helpful."

A defensive resurgence helped mask Pitt-Johnstown's early offensive struggles. The Mountain Cats ended the first half with advantages in bench (18-8) and fast-break (11-0) points.

Pitt-Johnstown made three straight 3-pointers early in the second half to lead 40-23. Joe Batt, Jakubick and Andrew Shull all buried triples.

West Virginia Wesleyan could only pull within 14 points the rest of the way as Pitt-Johnstown cruised to victory. Pitt-Johnstown outscored West Virginia Wesleyan 42-31 in the second half.

Pitt-Johnstown starting guard Ryan Smith was injured with 11:24 left in the second half and did not return to the game.

Slone provided game highs of 22 points and 10 rebounds. Darius Green netted 16 points.

Jake Oswalt is a copy editor for The Tribune-Democrat. Follow him on Twitter @TheWizOfOz11.