Seton Hill hosted Pitt-Johnstown Wednesday in their final home game of the season and the Griffins played an even first half with UPJ, trailing only by two at the break. But the Mountain Cats, one of the top teams in the PSAC West, shot 64 percent in the second half and pulled away to claim a 74-57 victory.

UPJ led the entire game, but couldn't pull away from the Griffins in the first half. The Mountain Cats opened the game with a 7-2 run, but Drew Green knocked down a jumper and Miles Monchecourt buried a three to even the count at 7-7. Pitt-Johnstown regained the lead and was in front 18-14 at the midway point of the first half following a bucket by Samuel Tabe. UPJ followed by scoring nine of the next 12 points to take their largest lead of the opening half at 27-17 with five minutes left.

The Griffins surged back to close the half, which started with transition baskets by Sean Dillon and Tabe. Then after Jaylen Stewart converted two free throws, he drained one from behind the arc to complete the 9-0 run and SHU was within a point at 27-26. UPJ hit a pair of threes in the final minutes but another Tabe lay-in with 44 seconds left and a score by Aaron Celcis with one tick on the clock made it a 33-30 Pitt-Johnstown lead at the break.

The Mountain Cats hit a lay-up and trey on their first two possessions of the second half, but Seton Hill came back with a Tabe lay-up and Green tip-in. Pitt-Johnstown then started to pull away, scoring eight straight points to take their lead to a dozen at 46-34. The UPJ margin grew to 54-39 before the Griffins made one more run. A big transition dunk by Green highlighted a 9-3 spurt, with Green scoring six during that stretch, to trim the UPJ lead to 57-48 with seven minutes remaining.

That was as close as the Griffins would get down the stretch. Pitt-Johnstown scored six in a row to push their lead back to 15 and would finish the second half shooting 18-of-28 from the field (64 percent) to secure the win and remain tied for second in the PSAC West.

The Griffins had a balanced scoring attack in the defeat, with four reaching double figures. Green finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season and second of his career, while Tabe matched him with 14 markers. Stewart came off the bench to drop in 13, while Sean Dillon had a solid night with 10 points, nine rebounds, five steals and four assists.

Seton Hill will close out the season on Saturday with a road trip to Edinboro for a 3 pm tip-off.