JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - The Gannon men's basketball team rallied from an eight-point second-half deficit by scoring 38 points during the final 14:07 and posted a 75-64 victory Saturday afternoon in the regular-season finale at Pitt-Johnstown. In the process, the Golden Knights clinched the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division's top seed and at least a share of the divisional regular-season title for the first time since the 2008-09 campaign.
The top seed gives Gannon 10 days off before returning to action Tuesday, March 4 in the PSAC Quarterfinals at the Hammermill Center. The Golden Knights already had a bye during Wednesday's final night of the conference regular-season schedule and later clinched a bye in next Saturday's PSAC Tournament first round.
Gannon will host the first-round winner between the division's fourth and fifth seeds. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The women's team will open the doubleheader against the first-round winner between the third and sixth seed at 5:30 p.m. Season ticket renewal procedures and general ticket presale information is expected to be released Monday on
www.gannonsports.com.
Head coach
John T. Reilly's club completed only the third perfect February in school history, finishing with a spotless 7-0 mark. Only the 1974-75 (9-0) and 2000-01 (7-0) teams have accomplished that feat during the program's 70-year history.
Gannon only scored 37 points during the first 25:53 of Saturday's regular-season finale at Pitt-Johnstown, before rallying from an eight-point deficit with 38 points during the final 14 minutes and seven seconds. Trailing 47-39 and with the PSAC West's top seed swinging in the balance, the Golden Knights ripped off a 10-2 run to knot the game at 49.
Girbran Smith (Nassau, Bahamas/Seton Academy) scored Gannon's first six points during the sequence with a pair of a free throws, a jam off a rebound and a jumper.
Raphell Thomas-Edwards (Leicester, England/The Gateway School) and
A'Darius Porter (Stockbridge, Ga./Woodland) followed with back-to-back lay-ups to create the eighth tie of the contest.
Pitt-Johnstown assumed its last lead of the afternoon at 54-53 after A.J. Leahey's three-pointer with 8:21 to play. Gannon answered with 10 consecutive points to take control. Thomas-Edwards and
Adam Blazek (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep) both converted lay-ups while being fouled and made the ensuing free throw to kick start the rally. A Thomas-Edwards lay-up and a Smith jumper capped the 10-0 blitz, giving the visitors a 63-54 advantage with 3:25 remaining.
It was a free throw contest after that. Gannon made 12-of-14 freebies during final 93 seconds, including an 8-of-8 chart during the final 40 seconds. The end result was an 11-point victory for the Golden Knights.
Gannon initially jumped out to a 10-2 advantage 6:16 into the contest. Pitt-Johnstown forged ahead with a 12-2 run midway through the first half, before the two teams exchanged the lead five times and became deadlocked five more times during the final seven minutes and 44 seconds. Bill Luther's triple with four seconds left gave the Mountain Cats a 31-28 halftime lead, forcing Gannon to win its sixth game of the season when tied or trailing at the intermission.
Four Golden Knights reached double digits in a balanced scoring attack. Porter recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Thomas-Edwards topped all Gannon scorers with 16 points and seven rebounds. Smith and Blazek added 15 and 14 points, respectively. Blazek also had eight rebounds, three assists and two steals while playing every minute for the 13th time this season and sixth time during the last seven games,
Gannon shot 52.4 percent (22-42) from the field, including a red-hot 58.3-percent (14-24) clip in the second half. The Golden Knights shot 33.3 percent (2-6) from three-point range and 85.3 percent (29-34) from the free throw line.
Leahey led Pitt-Johnstown with 17 points in 17 minutes off the bench. Luther chipped in 15 points. Ian Vescovi and Andrew Cressler had 11 points each.
