ERIE, Pa. (Feb. 26) – Facing a regionally-ranked opponent on the road, the California University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team was held to a season-low in points after falling by a 61-56 margin at Mercyhurst on Wednesday night in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West action.
 
With the loss, the Vulcans saw their three-game winning streak snapped and drop to 18-9 overall with a 14-7 record in league play. Cal U will be the fourth seed entering the PSAC Tournament next week and will host the first round on Monday with its opponent still to be determined. Meanwhile, the Lakers secured the second seed in the PSAC West and improve to 18-7 this season behind a 16-5 mark in conference action. Mercyhurst was featured seventh in the Atlantic regional ranking released this afternoon and stretches its winning streak to eight games.
 
Junior Brent Pegram (Upper Marlboro, Md./Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr.) scored a game-high 25 points on 9-of-21 shots and made five-of-six from the charity stripe. He also totaled nine rebounds, six assists and two steals while playing all 40 minutes against the Lakers. Pegram continues to rank third in the conference with 20.4 points per game and has now recorded 12 games with at least 20 points this season.
 
Sophomore Jermaine Hall, Jr. (Baltimore, Md./Severn School) registered 13 points on 6-of-13 shooting and added seven rebounds in 36 minutes of action. Freshman Luke House (Norristown, Pa./Archbishop John Carroll) totaled eight points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals in 38 minutes.
 
Both teams struggled from the field throughout the first half, as Mercyhurst scored the opening basket at the 17:38-mark to take an early 3-0 lead. Cal U then got on the board with a layup from Hall before the Lakers scored eight of the next 11 points to build an 11-5 advantage. Hall answered the seven points over the next three minutes to close the gap to 16-13 with 8:23 left in the half. Mercyhurst would extend the lead to 21-15 before both sides went scoreless for nearly four minutes. Pegram ended the first half with seven-straight points, including a jumper just before the buzzer, to give the Vulcans a 22-21 advantage.
 
Cal U started the second half with an 8-2 run to stretch the lead to 30-23 with 17:59 remaining before the Lakers countered with a three-pointer. After a pair of layups from sophomore Zyan Collins (South Riding, Va./Freedom), Mercyhurst went on a 9-2 rally to trim the deficit to 36-35 at the 13:06-mark. The Lakers continued the pressure by knocking down five of their next six shots, including three treys, to take a 48-40 advantage. During the nearly five-minute run, the Vulcans were held to one-of-five shooting and forced into three turnovers. Cal U worked the deficit down to 50-45 with 5:09 left before both teams exchanged points in the final four-plus minutes.
 
Cal U finished the game shooting 37.9 percent (22-of-58) from the floor while converting just 5-of-23 (21.7 percent) from three-point range. In comparison, Mercyhurst shot 56.0 percent in the second half and finished the game converting 22-of-51 (43.1 percent) from the field. The Lakers also made 35.5 percent (11-of-31) from beyond the arc in the win. The Vulcans finished with a 38-32 rebounding advantage and scored 30 points in the paint, while Mercyhurst scored 26 points off the bench.
 
Junior Cameron Gross tallied 12 points on four-of-eight shooting with three treys, plus seven rebounds and three assists in 25 minutes. Sophomore MiyKah McIntosh finished with 11 points, five rebounds and six assists in 37 minutes, while freshman Michael Bradley also posted 11 points with four rebounds, two assists and two steals in 32 minutes.
 
The Vulcans finish the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 29, when they host Gannon on Senior Day in the Convocation Center at 3 p.m.