Published: March 16, 2008 11:54 pm      

A stark difference in days

CALIFORNIA — The NCAA Division II dance came to end Sunday for the Pitt-Johnstown men’s basketball team in the semifinals at California University of Pennsylvania.

While everything seemed to go right in the Mountain Cat’s first-round game against second-seeded Mount Olive (N.C.) on Saturday, all the little things went wrong for UPJ in the 81-73 loss to Millersville University on Sunday.

Turnovers, rebounding woes and foul trouble were all part of the problem for the Mountain Cats, who ended their year with a 23-8 mark.

“One night has nothing to do with the next night,” UPJ coach Bob Rukavina said. “I thought we battled. They pressured us into turnovers. In the second half we cut it to two points. They just made a couple more plays than we did. The rebounding was pretty even (Millersville 38, UPJ 36), but it seemed like they got a couple more putbacks than we did. We just struggled to get over the hump. We had a few plays where we missed a layup or foul shot. And when it comes down to it, a couple possessions, every game is a close game.”

UPJ shot 54.2 percent in the first half but committed 11 turnovers and found itself trailing by seven points, 44-37 at the intermission.

“We told our guys at halftime, that UPJ was outshooting us, but our guys were outplaying them,” Millersville coach Fred Thompson said. “We were playing better defense then them. I think those turnovers were the difference in the game.”

The Mountain Cats committed just eight turnovers in the second half, but found itself struggling with foul trouble, with leading defender Quinton Davis playing just 17 minutes against the Marauders. Millersville’s Reggie Bates, who Davis was assigned to guard, finished with a game-high 32 points.

Even UPJ’s leading scorer, senior Chris Gilliam, had to spend part of the time on the bench when he picked up his fourth foul with just under nine minutes left to play.

UPJ won the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) regular-season title, in the Mountain Cats first year in the league. It was UPJ’s third foray into the NCAA Tournament and just the second time in school history the Cats advanced to at least the second round.

“I’m so proud of the team this year with what we accomplished,” Rukavina said. “We’re all down right now, but we’re going to reflect on the season for a long time and enjoy the memories from this year.”

Gilliam, who was named the conference most valuable player as well as the region’s MVP, is the lone starter that UPJ loses to graduation.