• Box Score

CALIFORNIA (Feb. 16) – The California University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team took a 12-point halftime lead and withheld a second-half surge to claim a 69-68 victory over Slippery Rock on Wednesday nigh at Hamer Hall in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West play.

With the victory, the Vulcans improve to 12-11 overall and are now in a tie with Clarion for fourth place in the divisional standings with a 5-6 mark. Meanwhile, The Rock drops to 17-8 this season with a 7-4 record in league play.

Junior Chad Tipton (Hanover, Pa./South Western) scored a team-high 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting, highlighted by four-of-seven from beyond the arc. The 6-5 swingman has averaged 14.5 points in the last six games while shooting 48.7 percent (19-of-39) from three-point territory.

Senior forward Rashaw Hatten (Clairton, Pa./Clairton) finished with 15 points five rebounds and two blocks off the bench, while the trio of juniors Freddy Appiah (Toronto, Ontario/Ascension of Our Lord), CJ Townes (Joppatowne, Md./Joppatowne) and Steve Swiech# (Greenock, Pa./Elizabeth-Forward) each scored seven points. Swiech also collected a team-high six rebounds.

In the first half, Cal U stretched its lead to as many as 15 points, 31-16, behind an 11-2 run capped by a lay-up from Hatten with 4:57 left. Slippery Rock trimmed the deficit to single digits, 33-24, before Townes converted a three-point play in the final minute to give the Vulcans a 36-24 halftime lead.

Cal U expanded its lead to 17 points, 44-27, on a pair of free-throws by Swiech in the opening minutes of the second half. The Rock countered with a 16-5 run to trim the deficit to 49-43 with a trey by forward Jabril Bailey. After a pair of baskets by the Vulcans, The Rock mounted a 12-0 rally to claim their first lead of the game at 57-54 with 5:53 remaining.

The Vulcans responded with a 10-1 run, featuring back-to-back treys by senior guard Joe Berenato (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) and Tipton, to reclaim a 64-58 lead with 1:31 left in the game. After a basket by Slippery Rock, sophomore Quentin Harding (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport) converted four free-throws to give Cal U a 68-62 advantage with 44.8 seconds left.

The Rock cut the deficit to 68-66 on a pair of free-throws with 27.4 seconds remaining. Hatten then converted one free-throw at 21.8 seconds before Slippery Rock's Devin Taylor made a lay-up with less than 11 seconds remaining. Harding missed a pair of free-throws at 10.4 seconds before Taylor missed the potential game-winning jumper as time expired.

The Vulcans shot over 50 percent in the second half and finished the game shooting at a 49.0 clip (24-of-49). The Rock, who made six second-half treys, shot at a comparable 44.6 percent (25-of-56) for the game.

Slippery Rock finished with a slim 31-29 advantage on the glass and scored 26 points from inside the paint. The Vulcans dominated in bench scoring, as their reserves accounted for 26 points.

Bailey led all scorers with 24 points behind five-of-six from beyond the arc, while senior Maron Brown posted a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.

Cal U returns to the court on Saturday, Feb. 19, when it hosts Gannon at 5 p.m. The game is set to be the final regular-season game at Hamer Hall, as the Vulcans host “Hail to Hamer.” The game will be broadcast live on Pittsburgh CW (Ch. 15/808 Comcast; Ch. 12/712 Atlantic Broadband; Ch. 19/110 Armstrong). Live stats will be available by clicking here.