BUFFALO, N.Y. – Making their long-awaited home debut, the D'Youville University men's basketball team erased a six-point deficit against the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown to take home a 90-86 victory.
 
The Saints (2-3) were led by Justin Moore (Oxford, Ala./Oxford) with a career-high 33 points with Jordan Turner (Houston, Texas/Sunrise Christian) and Trayton Tice (Romeville, Ill./Romeoville) adding 17 and 14 points, respectively. Moore and Trice led the team on the boards, grabbing nine rebounds each.
 
DYU came out of the gate hot, taking an early 9-3 lead just over two minutes in the game. A pair of buckets from Moore and a basket from Noah Hutchins (Buffalo, N.Y./IMG Academy) helped fuel to opening run. The teams traded blows for a majority of the first half before the Mountain Cats took a lead of five with 6:05 in the half. The Saints were able to get the lead back at the 3:00 minute mark with a three-pointer from Jaylin Simmons (Queens, N.Y./Benjamin Cardozo). UPJ quickly retook the lead to close the half out on an 8-2 run to lead 45-37.
 
Pitt-Johnstown continued to grow their lead in the early goings of the second half, leading by nine. D'Youville slowly chipped away at the lead, getting their first lead at the 11:19 mark left in regulation with a three-pointer from Nelson St. Lewis (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Port St. Lucie) to give the team a 66-64 lead. The Saints tried to pull away, but the Mountain Cats tied it up at 69-69 with just over seven minutes left in the half. DYU used a 9-2 run to help create separation and closed out the game.
 
D'Youville went 31-for-71 (43.7 percent) from the field with Pitt-Johnstown going 26-for-56 (46.4 percent) from the floor. DYU held the advantage on the glass, grabbing 40 rebounds to UPJ's 34 rebounds.
 
The Saints will be back in action this Sunday, November 24th, as they host Lake Erie College for a 2 p.m. tip.