CALIFORNIA (Jan. 2) – Sophomore Philip Alston (Columbus, Ohio/Westerville North) posted a double-double and junior Zyan Collins (South Riding, Va./Freedom) reached the 1,000-point milestone, as the Vulcans claimed an 81-64 win against Kutztown on Sunday afternoon at the Convocation Center in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Crossover play.

With the victory, the California University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team improves to 8-3 this season behind a 3-2 mark in league action. The Vulcans have won back-to-back meetings at home against the Golden Bears for the first time in over two decades. Meanwhile, Kutztown falls to 4-7 overall with a 1-4 record in conference play.

Alston registered 20 points and 14 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. He also matched his career high with four blocks while playing 37 minutes in the victory. Alston has scored at least 20 points five times this year while averaging 20.9 points per game, which leads the league.

Collins scored 16 points and added nine rebounds and five assists on Sunday afternoon. He joins senior Brent Pegram (Upper Marlboro, Md./Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr.) as the first 1,000-point scorers in program history since Borris Mesnager (2003-06) accomplished the feat. Collins becomes the 34th overall player in school history to reach the milestone (1,004).

Senior Preston Boswell (New Martinsville, W.Va./Magnolia) also finished with 16 points behind three-of-five from beyond the arc and collected four assists. Freshman Bryson Lucas (Clarksburg, W.Va./Robert C. Byrd) totaled 10 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals while making his first career start. Pegram posted 12 points, four rebounds and three steals after battling first-half foul trouble.

Cal U opened the game on an 8-2 run before Boswell made a trio of three-pointers in a span of 2:12 to extend the lead to 19-11 with 12:18 remaining before halftime. The Golden Bears later scored seven of eight points to trim the deficit to 25-20 at the 5:50-mark. Cal U closed the first half on a 7-2 run to take a 36-27 lead at the break behind 12 points from both Alston and Boswell.

The Golden Bears mounted a 10-3 run early in the second half to trim the deficit to 41-37 with 16:53 left to play. The Vulcans countered with a 13-2 rally in just under three minutes to stretch the lead to 62-47 at the 9:42-mark. Collins reached the 1,000-point milestone on a fastbreak layup with 11:59 left. (WATCH BELOW) Kutztown later posted a 7-2 run to work the deficit to 70-59 before Cal U responded with a 9-1 rally, highlighted by two dunks from Alston, to stretch the lead to 79-60 with 1:12 remaining.



Cal U finished the game shooting 42.4 percent (28-of-66) from the floor, including 9-of-21 (42.9 percent) from long range. Meanwhile, the Golden Bears were held to a season-low .319 field-goal percentage (23-of-72) and just 22.7 percent (5-of-22) from three-point territory. Kutztown held a 48-47 rebounding advantage, while Cal U scored 22 points off turnovers and totaled five blocks.

The tandem of junior Robert Tucker and senior Kyree Generett tied for the lead on the Golden Bears with 11 points. Junior Wesley Butler posted eight points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals in the losing effort.

The Vulcans open PSAC West play on Wednesday, Jan. 5, when they host two-time, defending-PSAC Champion and No. 10 IUP at 5:30 p.m.