Box Score INDIANA, Pa. (November 9, 2018) – The 16th –ranked Virginia State University men's basketball team opened the 2018-2019 season with 59-58 loss against the University of Pittsburg-Johnstown on Friday evening in the opening game of the IRMC / Hilton Garden Inn Classic hosted by Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Senior Jahmere Howze (Cleveland, OH) led the Trojans in his debut with VSU with a game high 13 points and eight rebounds. Howze shot 3-of-5 from the field. Sophomore William Vedder (Washington, DC) contributed 10 total points. Followed by Walter Williams (8), Cyonte Melvin (7) and Cedric Wiggins (6). Howze was the game's leading rebounder with eight recoveries.
Pitt-Johnstown made one-of-two free-throws with one second remaining in regulation to break a 58-all tie and lift the Mountain Cats to a 59-58 season-opening victory in Friday's First Round of the 2018 Indiana (PA) IRMC/Hilton Garden Inn Classic.
After a jumper and two free-throws from Pitt-Johnstown the Mountain Cats secured a 50-46 lead. The Trojans answered by regaining the lead, 53-50, on Cedric Wiggins' free-throw and second-chance layup from William Vedder.
Three lead changes later, Walter Williams 3-pointer put VSU back on top 58-56 at 3:30, but Pitt-Johnstown tied it at 58 with two free-throws with 00:35 seconds remaining. UPJ's Wiszomirski then made a steal on Virginia State's last possession and Kromka was fouled. Kromka hit the first free-throw and missed the second to give Pitt-Johnstown the victory.
The Mountain Cats got off to a fast start and built a 10-point lead, maintained lead the remainder of the first half.
Five early points from UPJ's Fred Mulbah and a conventional 3-point play from Wiszomirski put Pitt-Johnstown in front 16-6 seven minutes into the game.
Virginia State slowly clawed its way back in it and cut it to 25-24 at 5:20 on a Lual Rahama 3-pointer and James Smith's layup, but four straight points from UPJ's Wise and Caiden Landis' dunk quickly pushed the Mountain Cat lead back out to seven.
The Trojans got to within five late in the half, before Adam Kline scored in the paint and Romano Sebastiani connected on a free-throw with 2 seconds left to give the Mountain Cats a 38-30 halftime advantage.
Two free-throws from UPJ's John Paul Kromka 2:35 into the second half got Pitt-Johnstown's lead back into double digits at 43-32.
The Mountain Cats continued to hold a 10-point lead with 12:40 to play, before the Trojans came back with a 10-0 run over the next 3:49, capped by Cyonte Melvin's bucket, to knot it at 46 all. The contest remained close the rest of the way.
Neither teams shot the ball well in the opener. Virginia State finished at 39.2% from the floor and 3-13 from behind the 3-point line. Pitt-Johnstown shot 34.5% (19-55) from the field and 2-12 from 3-point range. The Trojans hit 15-23 from the free throw line.
Wise paced the way for the Mountain Cats as he finished with game-highs of 16 points and nine rebounds, and Kromka had 11 points (5-6 free-throws) in his collegiate debut. UPJ's Wizomirski collected six points and four rebounds, while fellow freshmen Mulbah had seven points, five rebounds, and a game-high six assists and Landis chipped-in six points.
The Trojans will return to action on Saturday evening against host Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. at the Kovalchick Convention & Athletic Complex.
For the most up-to-date information on VSU men's basketball, please visit www.govsutrojans.com and follow Trojans Athletics on Twitter @VSUsports.
