KUTZTOWN, Pa. (Dec. 30) – The Vulcans were unable to overcome a late first-half surge as they suffered a 92-82 loss at Kutztown in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action on Friday afternoon.
With the loss, the California (PA) men's basketball team drops to 4-7 overall with a 1-4 mark in conference play. Cal suffered it first defeat to Kutztown since November 2016. Meanwhile, the Golden Bears improve to 4-6 this season behind a 4-1 record in league competition.
Redshirt junior
Jermaine Hall, Jr. (Baltimore, Md./Severn School) led the Vulcans with 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field in addition to going three-for-four at the charity stripe. He added eight rebounds, one block and one steal. The Baltimore native is averaging 17.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game on a .511 shooting percentage this season.
Sophomore
Keith Palek III (Woodbine, N.J./St. Augustine Prep) tallied 19 points with six rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists. Freshman
KJ McClurg (Morgantown, W.Va./University) posted 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds in addition to a trio of assists. Redshirt freshman
Donald Whitehead, Jr. (Hermitage, Pa./Hickory) registered 12 points, three rebounds and two steals, while sophomore
Cam Polak (West Homestead, Pa./Steel Valley) scored 10 points and totaled five rebounds.
Cal held a 13-12 lead following a three-pointer from Hall with 16:44 remaining in the half after the teams split the initial 20 points of the contest. The Golden Bears conducted a 9-3 run to take a 21-16 advantage at the 13:19-mark of the first half. The Vulcans trimmed the deficit to 28-25 following a 9-7 rally with 8:24 left in the half. Over the next two minutes, neither team could register a basket until Hall scored on a layup to pull Cal within one point. Kutztown finished the first half on a 21-6 run as it led by a 49-33 margin at the break.
The Vulcans mounted momentum in the beginning of the second half by executing a 10-4 rally to cut the deficit to 53-43 at the 15:52-mark. A free-throw by Hall at the 13:46-mark capped off a 7-2 run as Cal pulled within five points as the Golden Bears led 55-50. Kutztown countered with an 11-4 run over the next three minutes as it regained a double-digit lead at 66-54 with 10:09 left in the game. At the 5:54-mark, the Golden Bears maintained a double-figure lead with a 75-65 advantage as the Cal tallied 11 of the following 20 points. Kutztown maintained its edge for the remainder of the game as the teams split the final 34 points.
Cal shot 44.9 percent (31-of-69) from the field while going 8-for-22 (.364 percentage) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Golden Bears recorded a .557 field-goal percentage (34-of-61) from the field and connected on 47.4 percent (9-of-19) of their three-point attempts. Kutztown held a 39-3 rebound advantage and collected 20 assists.
Jalen Bryant led the Golden Bears with 28 points with three rebounds and three assists. Kyree Generett added 18 points, four rebounds and a game-high seven assists. Robert Tucker scored 18 points in addition to nine rebounds and a pair of blocks, while Jordan Harding collected 12 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.
Cal returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 4, as it hosts Clarion in a PSAC West matchup at 7:30 p.m.
