INDIANA, Pa. – The Urbana University men’s basketball team opened the 2016-17 season with a 80-74 win over Pitt-Johnstown inside Memorial Field House Friday night at the S&T Regional Bank Atlantic Region Challenge, hosted by Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
It was a great start to head coach Rob Summers’ third year, as the Blue Knights captured their first win in a season opener during the school’s NCAA Division II era that began six years ago.
“This was a great team win,” Summers said. “We had several guys come off the bench to step up. It’s still early, but I think this is the most talented team I’ve had at Urbana. They really came together to execute and rebound down the stretch.”
After leading 40-39 at halftime, UU staved off the Mountain Lions’ comeback bid despite going the final six minutes without a field goal.
Four Blue Knights ended up in double figures, led by forward Jahmere Howze with 20 points. The sophomore went 10 of 13 at the free-throw line and added seven rebounds.
Junior shooting guard Carlas Jackson lit up the first half with 16 points and finished with 19 after going 4 of 9 from three-point range. Junior college transfers Charles Sweatt-Washington (15 points/8 rebounds) and AJ Washington (10 points/7 rebounds) made key contributions in their debuts.
As a team, UU shot 43 percent from the floor and went 6 of 19 on 3-pointers. The Blue Knight bench outscored the home team 26-19, while both teams grabbed 39 total rebounds. Pitt-Johnstown shot 44 percent and was limited to 23 percent on three’s.
UU broke open the game with a 14-1 run for a 66-50 lead midway through the second half. Howze had seven points, capping the spurt with a layup at the 9:49 mark.
However, the Mountain Lions were able to claw their way back into the contest by getting back within single digits. UPJ hit a trey with 3:13 left to make it a seven-point deficit at 74-67. Then, a layup at the 1:24 mark made it a four-point spread.
UU stopped the bleeding on a pair of free throws by freshman guard Jimmy Weinke, which ended a three-minute long scoring drought by the Blue Knights. UU’s last field goal in the game came on a Washington dunk with 6:18 remaining.
The Blue Knights sealed the win by going 6 of 8 at the line down the stretch.
The victory avenged UU’s loss a year ago to UPJ in the opener (80-75).
Seven players made their debut in a Blue Knight uniform, incuding Sweatt-Washington, Washington, Weinke, Dalton Payton, Ethan Snapp, DeQuan Abrom, and Jagger Surface.
UU will take on No. 24 IUP today at 7:30 p.m. at the Kovalchick Convention & Athletic Complex in Indiana, Pa.
Ehrenborg signs with UD
Triad’s Abby Ehrenborg has signed to play softball at the University of Dayton next year.
