Matthew Dogan
Matt Mead Photography LLC
Senior Matthew Dogan became the sixth Golden Knight in program history to score 30 points in consecutive games.
105
Winner Gannon GAN-M 8-5, 6-3 PSAC-W
97
Pitt-Johnstown UPJM 9-6, 4-5 PSAC-W
Winner
Gannon GAN-M
8-5, 6-3 PSAC-W
105
Final
97
Pitt-Johnstown UPJM
9-6, 4-5 PSAC-W
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 F
Gannon GAN-M 43 44 18 105
Pitt-Johnstown UPJM 46 41 10 97

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at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania

1/11/2017 | 7:30 PM

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Jan. 11 (Wed) / 7:30 PM
at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Dan Teliski, Assistant Director of Athletics for Media Relations

Dogan's 30-Foot Buzzer-Beater Leads Gannon Men's Basketball Team to Stunning 105-97 Overtime Win At Pitt-Johnstown (Video)



THE RUNDOWN
  • Score: Gannon 105, at Pitt-Johnstown 97
  • Records: Gannon (8-5, 6-3 PSAC), Pitt-Johnstown (9-6, 4-5 PSAC)
  • Location: Johnstown, Pa. - Sports Center
  • The Short Story: Senior Matthew Dogan (West Middlesex, Pa./West Middlesex)'s 30-foot three-point bomb as time expired in regulation forced overtime, before the Gannon men's basketball team out-scored Pitt-Johnstown 18-10 in the extra session and stunned the Mountains Cats 105-97 Monday night in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division contest at UPJ's Sports Center. It was the sixth-highest scoring game in Gannon's 73-year history.

GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER
HOW IT HAPPENED
  • Gannon opened the game with lay-ups from three different players to grab an early 6-0 lead.
  • The middle segment of the first half featured seven lead changes during the span of two minutes and 38 seconds.
  • Trailing 20-19, Pitt-Johnstown engineered an 11-4 run to assume a 30-24 lead with 6:51 left in the first half.
  • Gannon cut the deficit to one point on two occasions during the remainder of the first half, but Pitt-Johnstown pushed its last back to six points both times.
  • Freshman Jimmy Berger (Medina, Ohio/Saint Ignatius) drained a three-pointer as time expired to send the Golden Knights into the intermission trailing 46-43.
  • Pitt-Johnstown opened the second half with an old-fashion three-point play, increasing its lead to 49-43 eight seconds after the break.
  • Gannon responded with a 14-2 run that flipped the six-point deficit into a six-point advantage. Dogan produced 10 of the 14 points, including the last six that gave the Golden Knights a 57-51 edge with 15:20 to play.
  • Pitt-Johnstown countered with the next seven points, starting a stretch that included five more ties and four ties in the span of eight minutes and 29 seconds.
  • The home squad snapped a 73-73 tie with seven consecutive points and appeared to be on its way to a victory after A.J. Leahey's three-pointer gave the Mountain Cats an 80-73 lead with 3:05 remaining.
  • UPJ held an 84-78 lead, before Gannon staged a miraculous rally during the final eight seconds. Junior Zay Jackson (Queens, N.Y./Westside) hit a three-pointer while being fouled. His ensuing free throw brought the Golden Knights within 84-82.
  • Gannon immediately fouled and Pitt-Johnstown hit one of two free throws to assume an 85-82 lead.
  • UPJ elected to foul Jackson as he came across midcourt. Jackson promptly sank both free throws to climb back within one point as four ticks remained on the clock.
  • Leahey countered with two free throws one second later to push the lead back to three points at 87-84.
  • Pitt-Johnstown then elected not to foul a second time, before Dogan raced  across midcourt and drilled a 30-foot three-pointer from the left win at the buzzer to force overtime.
  • The extra session belong to the Golden Knights. Gannon ripped off the first seven points, ignited by two free throws and a three-pointer by Jackson.
  • A Jackson jumper midway through the overtime period gave the Golden Knights their biggest lead of the evening at 98-89.
  • Pitt-Johnstown never got closer than four points the rest of the way as Gannon celebrated an improbable 105-97 overtime victory.

GAME NOTES
  • Dogan led Gannon's scoring attack with 30 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals in 44 minutes of action. He concluded with an 11-of-17 shooting chart and had 18 of his points during the second half.
  • Jackson followed close behind with a career-high 29 points, including 11 during the overtime session. He added six rebounds and four assists in 43 minutes while finishing 11-of-11 from the free throw line.
  • Sophomore Evan Phoenix (Stevensville, Md./Calvert Hall) chipped in 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting to go along with five rebounds.
  • Berger recorded his second double-double with 12 points, 10 assists, four rebounds, four steals and zero turnovers in 43 minutes at point guard.
  • Gannon shot 54.3 percent (38-70) from the field, 47.8 percent (11-23) from three-point range and 90 percent (18-20) from the free throw line.
  • UPJ's Leahey topped all scorers on both sides with 34 points, finishing 10-of-15 overall and 7-of-10 from three-point range.
  • Isaac Vescovi and Dale Clancy added 21 and 16 points, respectively.
  • Pitt-Johnstown shot 56.7 percent (34-60) from the floor, including percentages over 60.9 during both the first and second halves. The Griffins shot 45.5 percent (15-33) from behind the arc and 66.7 percent (14-21) from the charity stripe.
  • The game featured 14 lead changes and eight ties.
  • Gannon produced a 42-28 scoring edge in the paint and 24-8 difference in second-chance points.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
  • Gannon played its third consecutive overtime game for the first time in the program's 73-year history. The squad was coming off overtime victories against California (Pa.) (93-88) last Tuesday and Seton Hill (83-73 in 2 ot) last Friday.
  • The Golden Knights have won three overtime games in a season for the third time in program history and first time since the 1990-91 campaign.
  • Gannon improved to 8-1 this season when reaching the 70-point plateau and 57-4 all-time under head coach John T. Reilly when scoring at least 80 points. The program is 110-8 when producing at least 80 points during the last 14 seasons.
  • The Golden Knights won their fourth consecutive overtime game dating back to last season's 80-79 overtime win at Pitt-Johnstown while improving to 15-9 all-time in overtime games under Reilly.
  • Gannon improved to 26-21 all-time in overtime games on the road.
  • Dogan became the sixth Golden Knight in school history to score 30 points in consecutive games. He is the first to accomplish the feat since Gannon Hall of Famer Troy Nesmith scored 31 points against LaRoche on November 22, 1997 and 35 points at Edinboro on November 25, 1997. 
  • Berger became the first Golden Knight to reach double digits in assists without committing a turnover since at least the 2001-02 campaign.
  • Sophomore Joe Fustine (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep) came off the bench to post career-highs in points (8), rebounds (5) and minutes played (18).
  • Gannon improved to 7-1 all-time at UPJ's Sports Center.
  • The 202 combined points were the sixth-most in program history behind Gannon's 111-109 double-overtime victory at Alliance on January 20, 1971. 
  • The 53 combined assists by Gannon and Pitt-Johnstown were the most in a game involving the Golden Knights since at least the 2001-02 campaign.

UP NEXT
  • Gannon concludes a brief two-game, three-day road swing Wednesday, January 11 at Edinboro.
  • Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
  • The contest can be heard live on Jet Radio 1400 and via the 90.5 WERG online stream at www.wergfm.com.
  • Wednesday night will be the 104th meeting between the two programs.
  • Gannon leads the all-time series 66-37.
  • Edinboro swept last year's season series with a 105-102 double-overtime victory at home and 74-61 win at the Hammermill Center.
  • Gannon had swept the previous two season series.
  • The Golden Knights have won four of their last five meetings at the McComb Fieldhouse where they are 27-22 all-time.
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Players Mentioned

Matthew Dogan

#15 Matthew Dogan

G
6' 7"
Senior
Physician Assistant
Joe Fustine

#24 Joe Fustine

G/F
6' 3"
Sophomore
Business
Jimmy Berger

#21 Jimmy Berger

G
6' 2"
Freshman
Mechanical Engineering
Zay Jackson

#3 Zay Jackson

G
6' 0"
Junior
Criminal Justice
Evan Phoenix

#2 Evan Phoenix

F
6' 9"
Sophomore
Marketing

Players Mentioned

Matthew Dogan

#15 Matthew Dogan

6' 7"
Senior
Physician Assistant
G
Joe Fustine

#24 Joe Fustine

6' 3"
Sophomore
Business
G/F
Jimmy Berger

#21 Jimmy Berger

6' 2"
Freshman
Mechanical Engineering
G
Zay Jackson

#3 Zay Jackson

6' 0"
Junior
Criminal Justice
G
Evan Phoenix

#2 Evan Phoenix

6' 9"
Sophomore
Marketing
F