RINDGE, N.H. (Nov. 21) – In a meeting of NCAA Tournament teams from last season, the Vulcans suffered an 84-79 loss at Franklin Pierce (N.H.) in non-conference action on Monday afternoon.
With the loss, the California (PA) men's basketball team falls to 2-3 this season while starting a four-game road trip. Meanwhile, the Ravens improve to 3-1 overall under 24th-year head coach David Chadbourne. Franklin Pierce advanced to the finals of the Northeast-10 (NE-10) Tournament last season and made its first NCAA Tournament appearance in seven years.
Freshman transfer
KJ McClurg (Morgantown, W.Va./University) notched his first-career double-double with 20 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. Additionally, he tallied four assists and tied a season-high three steals while playing 38 minutes. The West Virginia native is averaging 17.6 points per game while shooting 58.5 percent (31-of-53) from the floor, including 10-of-21 (47.6 percent) from beyond the arc, this season.
Sophomore
Keith Palek III (Woodbine, N.J./St. Augustine Prep) led the team with 21 points, marking his fifth 20-point performance of the season. He went 8-of-16 from the field and added eight rebounds, two assists and two steals. Redshirt junior
Jermaine Hall, Jr. (Baltimore, Md./Severn School) posted 14 points, three rebounds and two assists. Sophomore
DJ Slaughter (Manassas, Va./Saint John Paul the Great Catholic) scored a career-high 13 points behind a trio of three-pointers with three rebounds and two assists, while sophomore transfer
Cam Polak (West Homestead, Pa./Steel Valley) added 11 points, five rebounds and four assists on Monday.
Cal jumped out to a 6-3 lead after a layup by Hall with 15:31 to play, however, the Ravens executed a 10-6 run to take a 13-12 advantage. Both teams traded the next eight points until the Vulcans rattled off five-straight points to lead by a 21-17 margin with less than 10 minutes to play in the half. Franklin Pierce eventually tied the game at 23-23 following a free-throw. The back-and-forth battle continued as the score remained tied at 31-31 at the 3:08-mark. The Ravens closed out the opening half on a 10-0 run to grasp a 41-31 edge at the break.
In the beginning of the second half, Franklin Pierce stretched the lead to the biggest of the game as it led by a 12-point margin, 51-39. Cal seized momentum as it orchestrated an 18-7 run over the next five minutes that started with three-pointer from Palek and finished by a long range shot from Slaughter to trim the deficit to 58-57. The Ravens kept a one-point led after both teams split the next 12 points as they led 64-63 with 8:16 remaining. Franklin Pierce extended its lead to 75-68 following a three-pointer from Mohamed Traore. The Vulcans conducted a 6-2 run and pulled within one possession after a three-pointer by Slaughter. Slaughter once again brought Cal in striking distance by converting a layup with 40 seconds left to play. In the closing seconds, the Vulcans were unable to convert the game-tying three-point attempt.
Cal finished with a .456 field-goal percentage (31-of-68) while hitting .367 percent (11-of-30) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Franklin Pierce shot .426 percent (29-of-68) from the field and .353 percent (12-of-34) from long range. The Raven held a 44-34 rebounding advantage and collected 22 assists on 29 field goals.
Franklin Pierce was led by sophomore Mohamed Traore who scored a season-high 21 points, in addition to finishing with seven rebounds and four assists. Junior Sean Bresnan recorded 16 points, three rebounds and two assists, while senior Brandon Kolek posted 14 points, five rebounds and two assists.
The Vulcans return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 23, as they travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to face Chestnut Hill (PA) in non-league play at 12 p.m.
