CALIFORNIA (Nov. 15) – Despite 23 points from both
Terry Davis, Jr. (South Bend, Ind./John Adams) and
Isaiah Lewis (Brooklyn, N.Y./Christ the King), the Vulcans were unable to overcome a five-minute scoreless drought in the first half and suffered a 97-87 loss to Ashland in non-conference play on Wednesday night at the Convocation Center.
With the loss, the California University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team falls to 2-1 this year while scoring at least 85 points in all three games. Meanwhile, Ashland improves to 3-0 overall after playing in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Championship last year. The Eagles were selected the preseason GLIAC South favorite and were also receiving votes in the preseason NABC Top 25 poll.
Davis finished with 23 points after shooting 9-of-14 from the floor and added six rebounds against the Eagles. Lewis scored 23 points on 10-of-17 attempts from the field while playing 36 minutes on Wednesday. The senior duo of Davis and Lewis is averaging 44.0 points through the opening three games of the season.
Junior
Jahmere Howze (Cleveland, Ohio/Warrensville Heights) added 17 points after going 6-of-12 from the floor and senior
Cordell Smith (Cleveland, Ohio/Shaw) posted eight points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals in the loss.
Cal U mounted a 7-2 run early in the contest to take a 13-7 lead on a jumper by Lewis at the 15:34-mark. The Eagles responded with a 15-8 rally to take their first lead of the game at 22-21 with 11:18 left in the first half. During the run, the teams combined to miss only two shots from the field, however, the Eagles converted a trio of three-pointers. Cal U responded with a 12-5 run to reclaim the lead at 33-27 on a jumper by senior
Robel Teckle (Washington, D.C./Friendship Collegiate Academy) with 8:25 remaining before the break. The Eagles then seized control of the first half by scoring 19-unanswered points over five-plus minutes to build a 44-33 lead, as the Vulcans missed seven-straight shots and committed three turnovers during the span. Cal U cut the deficit to 50-41 at halftime after Davis made a jumper in the closing seconds.
Early in the second half, Davis executed a fastbreak dunk to trim the deficit to 59-52 before the Eagles countered with a 9-2 run to take their largest lead of the game at 68-54 with 12:13 left to play. Cal U later mounted a 17-9 rally over six-plus minutes to work the deficit down to five points, 80-75, when Howze converted a three-point play at the 4:55-mark. The Vulcans again trailed by as few as five points with 90 seconds left before the Eagles sealed the win with a three-pointer on the next possession and four free-throws in the final minute.
Cal U shot an impressive 55.4 percent (36-of-65) from the field and converted 78.6 percent (11-of-14) from the free-throw line. However, the Eagles posted their second-highest field-goal percentage in the last seven years, finishing at a staggering 64.3 clip after shooting 75.0 percent in the second half. Ashland, which made 11 three-pointers, held a 28-24 rebounding advantage, while Cal U scored 19 points off turnovers.
Ashland preseason All-American Wendell Davis, who missed all of last year due to injury, scored a career-high 37 points on 13-of-17 shooting, including five-of-seven from beyond the arc. Junior Ben Haraway added 28 points after making 11-of-18 attempts from the floor, while senior Marsalis Hamilton scored 13 points off the bench.
The Vulcans open Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) play this weekend with a pair of home crossover games, starting on Saturday, Nov. 18, against Kutztown at 3 p.m.
