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Box Score
PAINESVILLE, Ohio (Dec. 21) – Senior guard
Jerial Nixon (Lorain, Ohio/Admiral King/Lakeland C.C.) scored a season-high 22 points and classmate
Chris Moore (Ellicott City, Md./Howard/Morgan State) registered a double-double off the bench on Monday night, as the Vulcans earned a 72-56 victory over Lake Erie at the Jerome T. Osborne Center in non-conference action.
After losing its season-opener, the California University of Pennsylvania men's basketball has won seven-straight games to improve to 7-1. Meanwhile, Lake Erie has lost four-consecutive games to drop to 4-10 this year. The Vulcans swept the season-series against The Storm in the 2009-10 campaign after the two teams split the series last year.
Nixon finished with a game-high 22 points after shooting 7-of-12 from the field, including three-of-five from beyond the arc, and five-of-seven from the free-throw line. An All-PSAC West selection last year, he ranks third on the team this year with 10.0 points per game and leads the squad with 3.1 assist per game.
Playing in only 21 minutes off the bench, Moore posted 14 points and 10 rebounds for his second career double-double. The 6-8 forward made five-of-eight from the floor and was a perfect five-for-five from the charity stripe.
Junior transfer point guard
Travis Williams (Raleigh, N.C./Word of God Christian Academy/Potomac State) finished with 14 points while sophomore forward
Kelsey Williams (Sandusky, Ohio/Sandusky) added six points, six rebounds, three assists and three blocks.
After three ties and nine lead changes early in the game, the Vulcans took the final lead change of the game when freshman guard
Ryne Niemiec (Brownsville, Pa./Beth-Center) broke a 14-14 tie with a three-pointer with 11:33 left in the first half. Leading by two points, Cal U mounted an 11-4 run over a 6:19 span to take a 36-27 lead with 1:45 left before halftime.
The Vulcans seized control of the game with a 12-0 rally in the first five minutes of the second half to take a 48-29 lead. During its run, Cal U forced Lake Erie into four turnovers and The Storm missed nine-straight shot attempts. The Vulcans then maintained a double-digit lead throughout the remainder of the game, as Lake Erie would only cut the deficit to as few as 10 on several occasions. With 3:01 left and leading 65-55, Cal U scored seven-straight points, capped by a fast-break lay-up by
Kelsey Williams, to take a 72-55 lead and seal the victory.
For the game, the Vulcans shot at a 46.9 clip (23-of-49) – third-best of the season – while the Storm were limited to only a .361 field-goal percentage (22-of-61). Cal U tied its season-high with six three-pointers and also made 76.9 percent (20-of-26) from the free-throw line. Meanwhile, Lake Erie made only 3-of-21 from beyond the arc (14.3 percent) and 50.0 percent (9-of-18) from the charity stripe.
Cal U out-rebounded Lake Erie by a 41-33 margin and committed only 16 turnovers. In each of their wins this season, the Vulcans have committed less than 20 turnovers.
The Vulcans are off this Christmas weekend before returning to action at the Main Street Bank Classic in Wheeling, W.Va., beginning Tuesday, Dec. 29. Cal U opens play at the two-day tournament against West Liberty before facing the host Cardinals on Wednesday, Dec. 30.
