WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. (Nov.11) – The Vulcans opened the season with an 82-73 win against Wheeling during the opening day of the Mountain East Conference (MEC)/Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tip-off Challenge hosted by West Liberty on Friday night.
With the victory, the California (PA) men's basketball team begins the year with a 1-0 mark. Meanwhile, the Cardinals start the season with a 0-1 overall record after being picked 10th in the preseason MEC poll.
Freshman transfer
KJ McClurg (Morgantown, W.Va./University) paced the team with 21 points on 7-of-10 from the field and 6-of-10 from the free-throw line in addition to a team-high seven rebounds. Sophomore
Keith Palek III (Woodbine, N.J./St. Augustine Prep) registered career highs of 20 points and six steals while collecting four rebounds in the contest. Sophomore transfer
Cam Polak (West Homestead, Pa./Steel Valley) notched 16 points after connecting on five-of-nine from the field and four-of-four from the the charity stripe. Redshirt junior
Jermaine Hall, Jr. (Baltimore, Md./Severn School) tallied 14 points, six rebounds and two steals, while sophomore
DJ Slaughter (Manassas, Va./Saint John Paul the Great Catholic) added 10 points, four assists, three rebounds and three steals.
Wheeling jumped out to an early 4-0 lead after converting a pair of turnovers into points. Both teams continued the back-and-forth battle as they traded the next 18 points with the Cardinals holding a 12-10 advantage. The next three Wheeling baskets were scored from beyond the arc, as it stretched the lead to a 21-13 margin at the 11:19-mark. Cal cut the deficit to 21-19 following a jumper from McClurg with less than eight minutes to play in the first half. At the 7:01-mark, the Vulcans pulled within one point after a layup from Polak. Thirty seconds later, Polak gave Cal a 25-23 lead following a three-pointer, however, Wheeling regained the lead by a 28-26 margin. Each team exchanged the next eight points until the 2:47-mark with Palek converting a pair of free-throws. The Cardinals connected on a three-pointer with less than two minutes to play in the half to lead by a 36-35 advantage. The Vulcans finished the first half on a 6-0 run to grasp a 41-36 lead at halftime.
In the second half, Hall extended the Cal advantage to eight points by hitting from long range at the 16:09-mark. Polak gave the Vulcans their first double-digit lead following a three-pointer, as Cal held a 64-54 edge. The Vulcans maintained the lead as they answered every point from Wheeling in the final 10 minutes. Cal recorded its largest lead of 12 points with 38 seconds remaining in the game when Palek made a pair of free-throw attempts.
The Vulcans return to action tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 12, as they face No. 8 West Liberty in the final day of the MEC/PSAC Challenge at 8 p.m.
