CALIFORNIA (Dec. 10) – Playing without their leading scorer for virtually the entire game, the Vulcans nearly upset Shippensburg on Saturday evening before suffering a 78-72 loss in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Crossover action at the Convocation Center.
With the loss, the California University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team falls to 2-8 overall and 0-5 in league play. The Vulcans have now lost their last three games by only a combined 14 points. Meanwhile, Shippensburg remains the only undefeated team in the PSAC this year at 8-0 overall and 5-0 in conference action.
Juniors
Nick Miller (Industry, Pa./Western Beaver) and
Daniel Sapp (Streetsboro, Ohio/Streetsboro) tied for the team lead with 14 points on Saturday. Miller shot 5-of-11 from the floor, including three-of-six from beyond the arc, in 26 minutes off the bench. Sapp made 6-of-11 attempts from the field and collected nine rebounds (three offensive) in loss.
Junior forward
Tony Richardson (Sterling, Va./Dominion) added 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting and registered nine rebounds (four offensive) and two blocks. Classmate
Luka Andjusic (Belgrade, Serbia/Borislav Petrov Braca) posted 11 points behind three-of-five from long range and tallied four rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench. Fellow junior
Cordell Smith (Cleveland, Ohio/Shaw) collected seven points, five rebounds and five assists in the loss.
The Vulcans scored the opening basket of the game and held the Raiders scoreless for nearly four minutes before Shippensburg mounted a 10-0 run to take a 10-2 lead with 13:21 left in the first half. Cal U later made six-of-eight attempts from the floor to work the deficit down to 21-19 with 7:11 remaining before the break. The Raiders responded with five-straight points before the Vulcans closed the half on a 12-3 run to take a 31-29 lead at the break following a three-pointer by Miller with 16 seconds left.
Shippensburg reclaimed the lead after scoring the initial four points of the second half before Cal U later scored seven-unanswered points to take a 43-38 lead when Miller converted a three-point play at the 14:39-mark. The Raiders countered with a 13-7 run over nearly four minutes to take a 51-50 lead with 10:45 left to play. Following a jumper by Richardson, Shippensburg tallied eight-consecutive points to take a 59-52 lead with 8:39 remaining. The Vulcans then cut the deficit to 59-57 before the Raiders countered with a 16-7 rally to take the largest lead of the game at 11 points, 75-64, with 43 seconds left to play. Andjusic and Miller later each made a three-pointer in a span of seven seconds to cut the deficit to 77-72 with eight seconds remaining.
The Vulcans finished the game shooting 48.6 percent (30-of-65) from the floor, including 38.5 percent (10-of-26) from the beyond the arc, but only attempted three free-throws. Meanwhile, the Raiders shot at a 36.4 clip (24-of-66) from the field and converted 73.1 percent (19-of-26) from the charity stripe. Shippensburg held a 41-39 rebounding advantage behind 17 offensive rebounds and committed just nine turnovers.
Junior forward Dustin Sleva led all players with 24 points after going 8-of-17 from the floor and also posted nine rebounds. Junior Justin McCarthur scored 16 points, while sophomore Antonio Kellem finished with 11 points and nine rebounds. Freshman John Castello collected a game-high 12 rebounds (six offensive) in the win.
The Vulcans are idle for a week due to final exams before returning to action on Saturday, Dec. 17, when they host Carlow in Hamer Hall at 3 p.m.
