WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. (Nov. 14) – The Vulcans suffered an 86-69 loss against Notre Dame (Ohio) on Saturday night at the second-annual Charles and Lavoo Crutchfield Mountain East Conference (MEC)/Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Challenge hosted by national-power West Liberty.
With the loss, the California University of Pennsylvania men's basketball opens the year at 0-1. Meanwhile, the Falcons begin the season at 1-0 after losing an exhibition at Bowling Green in overtime last Friday.
Sophomore
Luka Andjusic (Belgrade, Serbia/Borislav Petrov Braca) scored a team-high 15 points on 5-of-15 shooting, including 3-of-12 from beyond the arc. A transfer from South Alabama, he also added five rebounds in 27 minutes while making his debut with the program.
Senior guard
Khalil Jabbie (Alexandria, Va./Edison) posted 12 points on 3-of-10 attempts from the field and collected four rebounds and two assists. Sophomore
Cordell Smith (Cleveland, Ohio/Shaw) finished with 11 points in his first career start and senior
Richard Smith (Cleveland, Ohio /Lutheran East) recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds (six offensive).
Notre Dame opened the game on an 11-0 run, as Cal U was held scoreless until the 16:08-mark of the first half. The Vulcans then trimmed the deficit to 15-9 on a traditional three-point play by sophomore
Tony Richardson (Sterling, Va./Dominion) with 12:27 left before halftime. The Falcons later mounted a 14-4 rally, holding the Vulcans to 1-of-12 shooting from the floor during that span, to stretch the lead to 31-15 with 3:20 remaining in the first half. Notre Dame eventually led by as many 17 points, 36-19, in the first half before taking a 36-21 lead into halftime.
The Falcons made a three-pointer to start the second half before the Vulcans answered with an 11-4 run to cut the deficit to 42-32 on a three-pointer by Andusic with 16:41 left to play. Midway through the second half, Notre Dame engineered a 10-5 run to stretch the lead to 47-64 with 10:32 remaining. The Vulcan cut the deficit to single digits at 69-60 after a jumper by Andjusic at the 6:01-mark capped a rally of six-unanswered points. Notre Dame answered with a 9-1 run to stretch the lead to 78-61 with 3:36 left in the game, as Cal U was held without a field for nearly three minutes. Notre Dame sealed the with win with an 8-3 run to take its largest lead of the game at 86-67 with 1:31 remaining.
Cal U shot 50 percent from the field in the second half and finished the game shooting at 38.1 clip (24-of-63), including 33.3 percent (7-of-21) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Notre Dame made 45.9 percent (19-of-34) from the field and 78.6 percent (11-of-14) from the free-throw line. The Falcons held a 51-34 rebounding advantage and scored 19 second-chance points after collecting 18 offensive rebounds.
Senior Tyree Gaiter Gaiter and sophomore Will Vorhees both scored 26 points for the Flacons and collected four assists in the season-opener, while Vorhees also tied for the team lead with eight rebounds.
The Vulcans return to action tomorrow, Sunday, Nov. 15, when they face host and preseason No. 3 West Liberty at 6 p.m.
