NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Atlantic Regional
Hosted by Gannon University (Erie, Pa. – Hammermill Center)
Quarterfinal Game #3 – Saturday, March 14, 2009
(Courtesy WIll Prewitt, WVIAC Associate Commissioner)
Erie, Pa. - A 10-0 run spanning both halves broke open a back-and-forth affair as top-seeded Gannon downed Pitt Johnstown 76-53 in first round NCAA Atlantic Region Tournament action.
The Mountain Cats used a 5-0 run to build a 13-8 lead as Marcus Tullis tallied eight points in the game's first seven minutes. Gannon drew even at 13-all on a pair of Cory Knight free throws.
Back-to-back Danny Branch three-pointers put UPJ back on top 19-15. Gannon grabbed their first lead of the game 22-21 on a Kyle Goldcamp putback at the 7:20 mark of the opening half. Gannon took advantage of six straight UPJ misses for a 9-0 run to extend the lead to five.
Consecutive transition baskets by the Golden Knights in the final 30 seconds of the half brought the packed house to their feet and allowed Gannon to take their largest lead of the half into the locker room at 37-30.
The edge quickly grew to 13 in the opening minute of the second half on back-to-back three-pointers from Tyler Stocyzinski and George Johnson.
The Mountain Cats drew within 51-41 at the 12:41 mark, but were guilty of turnovers on their next four possessions and an 11-3 spurt padded the Gannon lead to 62-44.
Goldcamp, who played his first two seasons at Pitt Johnstown, notched a double-double with 14 points and 18 rebounds. Gannon owned a 38-25 edge on the backboards. Pierre Howard led five Golden Knights scoring in double figures with a game-high 19 points.
Tullis led UPJ with a game-high 17 points. Danny Branch added 11 and Quinton Davis ended with 10. The Mountain Cats only shot 41.3 percent from the field, while allowing Gannon to connect on 47.0 percent of their field goals.
Gannon, ranked fifth nationally, improved to 19-1 at home and 28-3 overall. The Golden Knights will face Alderson-Broaddus or Johnson C. Smith in Sunday's semifinals. Pitt Johnstown, the WVIAC Tournament champion, ends their campaign at 24-8.
A complete box score from Saturday’s Gannon-Pitt-Johnstown NCAA Atlantic Regional Men’s Basketball quarterfinal game can be found at
http://www.gannonsports.com/documents/2009/3/14/ncaa3.htm?id=251.
