CALIFORNIA (Jan. 30) – Behind a pair of 20-point performances from freshman Zyan Collins (South Riding, Va./Freedom) and sophomore Brent Pegram (Upper Marlboro, Md./Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr.) on Wednesday night, the California University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team secured an 80-63 victory over Clarion at the Convocation Center in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West action.
 
With the win, the Vulcans snapped a four-game losing streak to improve to 7-12 this season behind a 5-8 mark in league play. Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles drop their sixth-straight contest to fall to 4-13 overall with a 2-11 mark in conference action.
 
Collins finished a career-high 24 points on 11-of-17 shooting and added three rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block in 40 minutes of action. He now has tallied three games with at least 20 points this year, while ranking second on the team in scoring with 14.9 points per game.
 
Pegram collected his seventh 20-point game this season after scoring 21 points on 7-of-16 attempts, including four three-pointers. He totaled two assists and three steals while playing all 40 minutes versus the Golden Eagles.
 
Freshman Collin MacAdams (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) posted 19 points on 7-of-10 shots, plus four-of-four from the free-throw line, and added nine rebounds in 40 minutes. Redshirt junior Donte' Williams (Buffalo, N.Y./Bishop Timon) notched eight points in 26 minutes due to foul trouble, while classmate Jordan Gessner (Elizabethville, Pa./Upper Dauphin) finished with seven points, four rebounds and two assists in 35 minutes of action.
 
Cal U scored the initial seven points of the contest before racing out an 11-4 lead at the 16:47-mark behind six points from Collins. Clarion closed the gap to 16-12 after making four-of-seven from the field before the Vulcans made consecutive shots to stretch the advantage to 21-14 with 11:27 left in the first half. After exchanging baskets, the Golden Eagle trimmed the deficit to 29-24, but Cal U responded with a pair of shots in the paint to extend the lead to 33-26 at the 6:47-mark. In the next four-plus minutes, Clarion would knock down the only shot while the Vulcans continued to hold a 37-28 advantage late in the first half. The Golden Eagles closed the half on an 8-2 rally to cut the deficit to 39-36 heading into halftime.
 
Clarion tied the game at 39-39 early in the second half before Cal U countered with an 8-1 run on three-of-three shooting to reclaim the lead at 47-40 with 17:18 remaining. The Golden Eagle offense responded with an 11-5 rally, including a pair of three-pointers, to close the gap to 52-51 at the 14:27-mark. The Vulcans answered with nine-straight points over a three-plus minute stretch to take a 61-51 lead before each team would trade points over the next six minutes. Cal U held a 67-59 advantage with 4:35 left before tallying a 13-4 run behind five points from both Collins and Pegram to seal the 80-63 victory on Wednesday.
 
Cal U finished the game with a .566 field-goal percentage (30-of-53) and made 9-of-22 (40.9 percent) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Clarion shot 43.3 percent (26-of-60) from the floor and converted just 6-of-24 (25.0 percent) from long range. The Golden Eagles held a commanding 40-21 rebounding advantage, while the Vulcans only had six turnovers, including zero in the second half.
 
Junior Jonathan Williams posted 15 points on 7-of-12 attempts and added six rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench, while sophomore Khari Williams finished with 10 points, eight rebounds, two assists and one block in 37 minutes. Junior Stevan Rodriguez also tallied 10 points and added seven rebounds while playing 23 minutes in the loss.
 
The Vulcans return to action on Saturday, Feb. 2, when they travel to face Slippery Rock in PSAC West play, starting at 3 p.m.