INDIANA, Pa. (Jan. 21) – Facing one of two remaining undefeated teams in the country, the Vulcans were unable to overcome a second-half surge on Saturday afternoon while suffering an 87-70 loss at No. 1 IUP in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West action.
With the loss, the California (PA) men's basketball team falls to 7-10 this season behind a 4-7 mark in league play. The Vulcans and Crimson Hawks met in the 2022 NCAA Atlantic Regional Championship, the fourth meeting between the teams last year. Meanwhile, three-time, defending-PSAC Champion IUP remains undefeated at 17-0 overall with an 11-0 record in conference play.
Sophomore
Cam Polak (West Homestead, Pa./Steel Valley) tallied 21 points after going 5-for-11 from beyond the arc and six-of-eight from the free-throw line. Additionally, he notched five rebounds and two assists on Saturday. Polak ranks third on the team in scoring this year at 13.9 points per game and sits second in the league with 43 three-pointers made.
Redshirt freshman
Donald Whitehead, Jr. (Hermitage, Pa./Hickory) finished with 18 points, five rebounds and four assists off the bench, while redshirt junior
Jermaine Hall, Jr. (Baltimore, Md./Severn School) posted 16 points behind four three-pointers and eight rebounds. Freshman
KJ McClurg (Morgantown, W.Va./University) added nine points, three rebounds, two steals and two assists on Saturday.
IUP went on a 10-3 run early in the first half to take a 12-6 lead at the 16:35-mark before Cal scored 10-straight points to take a 16-12 lead with 14:16 left before the break. The Crimson Hawks countered with 13-5 rally behind a trio of treys to take a 25-21 lead with 8:29 left in the first half. IUP took its largest lead of the first half, 34-26, at the 5:07-mark before Cal trimmed the deficit to 36-33 on a three-pointer by Polak with 3:10 remaining before halftime. The Crimson Hawks eventually took a 41-37 lead into the break.
The Vulcans cut the deficit to 48-47 early in the second half following a three-pointer by Polak with 15:52 remaining. IUP then seized control with a 16-4 run to stretch the lead to 64-51 at the 10:18-mark before another trey by Polak on the ensuing possession. The Vulcans later worked the deficit down 11 points, 72-61, on a jumper by Hall with 4:46 left to play. IUP maintained the double-digit lead for the remainder of the game and stretched the lead to 17 points after scoring the final seven points of the game in last 90-plus seconds.
Cal finished the game shooting 35.6 percent (21-of-59) from the field while connecting on 10-of-25 (40.0 percent) from three-point territory. Meanwhile, IUP recorded a .467 field-goal percentage (28-of-60) and converted 22-of-33 (66.7 percent) from the free-throw line. The Crimson Hawks held a 44-33 rebounding advantage and scored 34 points inside the paint, plus committed only eight turnovers.
IUP graduate student Shawndale Jones – the PSAC's leading scorer, registered a season-high 31 points on 9-of-20 shooting and 10-of-14 from the free-throw line. He also added six rebounds, four assists and two steals in the win. Junior Ethan Porterfield tallied 15 points and seven rebounds, while sophomore Tomiwa Sulaiman recorded 14 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and two assists.
The Vulcans return to action on Monday, Jan. 23, as they travel to Greensburg, Pennsylvania, to face Seton Hill in PSAC West play at 7:30 p.m.
