CALIFORNIA (Feb. 25) – The Vulcans were eliminated from Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament contention on the final day of the regular season with a 77-72 loss to No. 2 IUP in divisional play on Saturday evening at the Convocation Center.
With the loss, the California University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team finishes the year with a 10-18 overall record behind a 7-15 league mark. Cal U, which posted a three-win improvement from last season, finished one game back of the sixth place in the divisional standings. Meanwhile, IUP closes the regular season on a 17-game winning streak to improve to 26-2 this year with a 21-1 mark in conference action.
Junior
Nick Miller (Industry, Pa./Western Beaver) led the team with a season-high 17 points off the bench and added five rebounds in just 16 minutes. Classmate
Robel Teckle (Washington D.C./Friendship Collegiate Academy) tallied his third double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Junior
Luka Andjusic (Belgrade, Serbia/Borislav Petrov Braca) added 11 points behind three-of-six from beyond the arc.
Both teams struggled from the field to open the game, shooting just a combined 5-of-15 from the field in the initial four minutes. The Vulcans then scored seven-straight points in just over four minutes to take an 11-7 lead with 12:35 left in the first half. IUP responded with eight-consecutive points to take a 15-11 lead at the 7:28-mark. During that span, the Vulcans went 0-of-4 from the field and committed six turnovers. Cal U countered with a 12-5 run to take a 23-20 lead with 2:42 left in the first half before IUP closed out the half with 10 points in the final 1:44 to take a 30-23 into the break. The Crimson Hawks used a pair of three-pointers to complete the run after making just two in the opening 19 minutes of the game.
After the Vulcans scored the first basket of the second half, the Crimson Hawks went on a 15-3 run over the span of 3:14 to take a 45-28 lead at the 16:04-mark in the second half. During the run, IUP went six-of-eight from the field and limited Cal U to one-of-five from the field. The Crimson Hawks extended their lead to 19 points at 53-34 with 12:35 left in the game before the Vulcans went on a 20-7 run over the span of 6:50 to cut the deficit to 60-54 with 5:32 remaining. The Vulcans shot 53.8 percent from the field during the run and limited the Crimson Hawks to just two-of-nine from the field. IUP responded with a 11-2 run over the next 2:09 to take a 71-56 lead with 2:59 left in the game. Cal U made one last charge with a 16-4 run to cut the IUP lead to 75-72 with 19 seconds left before the Crimson Hawks held on for the 77-72 win after making two free-throws.
Cal U finished the game shooting 46.4 percent (26-of-56) from the field after making a 53.1 clip in the second half. The Vulcans shot 8-of-25 (32 percent) from beyond the arc, while the Crimson Hawks made 42.6 percent (26-of-61) from the floor and 10-of-26 (38.5 percent) from long range. Cal U out-rebounded IUP by 40-35 margin and scored 25 points from off the bench. However, the Crimson Hawks forced 18 turnovers that led to 27 points.
Junior Jacobo Diaz led IUP with a game-high 21 points on 8-of-14 from the field and added eight rebounds. Senior Anthony Glover added 14 points, eight rebounds, and four assists in the win.
