GREENSBURG, Pa. (Feb. 11) – Behind a three-pointer at the buzzer by junior guard
Cordell Smith (Cleveland, Ohio/Shaw), the California University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team earned a 69-68 comeback victory at Seton Hill in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West action on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the Vulcans improve to 9-15 on the year behind a 6-12 record in conference play. The victory also snapped an 18-game road losing streak for the program, while Cal U earned its first PSAC win on the road since Jan. 22, 2015. Meanwhile, the Griffins fall to 11-12 overall with an 8-11 mark in league action.
Smith finished just short of a double-double, tallying 12 points and nine assists. The Cleveland native ranks second on the team in scoring this year at 9.7 points per game while also leading the team with 3.2 assists per game. Smith has scored in double-digits in six of the last eight games.
Junior
Luka Andjusic (Belgrade, Serbia/Borislav Petrov Braca) led the team with 17 points after going five-of-nine from beyond the arc despite playing just 21 minutes. Classmate
Robel Teckle (Washington, D.C./Friendship Collegiate Academy) registered his second double-double in four games with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while fellow junior
Tony Richardson (Sterling, Va./Dominion) set a career high with 17 rebounds in the win.
Cal U opened the game with seven-straight points by the 18:31-mark after making its first three shots. Seton Hill responded with a 17-2 run that spanned nearly six minutes to take a 17-9 lead with 12:07 left in the first half. The Vulcans went just 1-of-10 from the field during the run by the Griffins. Back-to-back three-pointers from juniors
Nick Miller (Industry, Pa./Western Beaver) and
Daniel Sapp (Streetsboro, Ohio/Streetsboro) keyed an 8-0 rally by the Vulcans that tied the score at 17-17 with 9:20 left in the first half. The Griffins would used a 9-3 run to take a 28-20 at the 3:00-mark and held a 30-25 lead at the break after Miller made three free-throws after being fouled beyond the three-point line.
After Teckle started the second half with a lay-up, the Griffins went on an 12-2 run to take a 42-29 lead at the 14:49-mark. The Vulcans were held without a field goal for nearly five minutes while the Griffins went a perfect five-for-five from the field. Seton Hill took its largest lead of the game at 45-31 with 12:17 left in the game before the Vulcans rallied with a 11-0 run over nearly three minutes to cut the deficit down to three points at the 9:23-mark. Cal U would get within 48-47 with 8:18 left until Seton Hill rattled off six-straight points to take a 54-47 lead with 6:12 remaining. With the Griffins holding a 58-50 lead at the 4:25-mark, Smith and Andjusic hit back-to-back three-pointers in under a minute to get within two. The Vulcans took the lead at 61-60 on a jumper from Miller with 2:00 left in the game before the Griffins went eight-of-nine from the charity stripe to take the lead back at 67-64 with 19 seconds left. After a long two-pointer from Teckle, the Griffins split a pair of free-throws to set the stage for Smith to hit a three-pointer at the buzzer, giving the Vulcans a 69-68 win.
The Vulcans shot 34.4 percent (22-of-64) from the field for the game after shooting at a 42.8 percent clip in the second half. Cal U shot 9-of-18 from beyond the arc in the second half to finish with a .382 percentage (13-of-32) from three-point territory. Meanwhile, the Griffins shot at a 40.0 clip (22-of-55) from the floor but went just 4-of-21 (19 percent) from beyond the arc. Seton Hill finished with a slight 43-40 rebounding advantage and scored 28 points in the paint.
Senior Noah Davis finished with 18 points with three three-pointers and added six rebounds. His brother, freshman Nate Davis, scored 13 points and tallied four assists in the loss.
Cal U returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 15, when it hosts Pitt-Johnstown at the Convocation Center for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.
