CALIFORNIA (Jan. 28) – Despite nearly 40 combined points by redshirt junior
Jermaine Hall, Jr. (Baltimore, Md./Severn School) and sophomore
Keith Palek III (Woodbine, N.J./St. Augustine Prep), the California (PA) men's basketball team loss 76-72 against Pitt-Johnstown on Saturday afternoon in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West play at the Convocation Center.
With the loss, the Vulcans fall to 9-11 overall with a 6-8 record in league play. Meanwhile, the Mountain Cats registered their fourth-straight win and improve to 15-5 this season behind an 11-3 mark in conference competition.
Hall tallied 19 points on 8-of-17 shooting and eight rebounds (four offensive) on Saturday. He ranks second on the team in scoring this year with a career-high 17.0 points per game. Palek notched 19 points on 5-of-10 from the floor and seven-of-seven from the charity stripe. He also registered four rebounds and two assists while battling foul trouble.
Freshman
KJ McClurg (Morgantown, W.Va./University) posted 14 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals against UPJ. Sophomore
Cam Polak (Homestead, Pa./Steel Valley) added seven points, five rebounds and two assists, while classmate
DJ Slaughter (Manassas, Va./Saint John Paul the Great Catholic) totaled seven points, three rebounds and two assists.
The teams split the initial 10 points of the contest followed by Cal taking an 11-7 advantage after a pair of three-pointers from Palek. The Mountain Cats executed a 9-5 rally to tie the game 16-16 at the 12:58-mark. Cal and UPJ traded the next 12 points to remain deadlocked at 22-22. Palek gave Cal a 25-24 edge after converting three free-throws with 8:32 to play in the half. The Vulcans scored five of the next seven points to stretch their lead to a 30-26 margin. The Mountain Cats answered with four-straight points to tie the score at 30-30. The next two-plus minutes featured four lead changes and the teams finished the half with an even 6-6 run with Cal leading 42-40 at the break.
The Vulcans opened the second half by extending their lead to five points at 46-41. A slight 7-6 run from Cal that was capped off by a long-range connection from McClurg gave the Vulcans a 53-47 edge with 15 minutes to play. After falling behind 58-49, the Mountain Cats went on a 10-3 rally to pull within 60-59. Hall connected on a mid-range jumper that was countered by a three-pointer from Jared Jakubick to tie the game at 62-62 with 8:57 to play. The teams continued their back-and-forth battle as they exchanged the following 12 points to remain tied at 68-68. A jumper by Andrew Shull and a putback layup from John Paul Kromka gave UPJ a 72-68 advantage at the 1:42-mark. A pair of converted free throws from Kromka gave the Mountain Cats a two-possession in the closing seconds.
Cal shot 39.1 percent (25-of-64) from the field while hitting 8-of-32 attempts (25.0 percent) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, UPJ recorded a staggering .577 field-goal percentage (30-of-52) and despite connecting on 23.1 percent (3-of-13) of its three-point attempts. The Mountain Cats held a 35-31 reboudning edge and dished out 13 assists.
The three-time PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Year, Kromka notched a career-high 31 with 12 rebounds, one block and one steal. Shull finished with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists. Jakubick scored 13 points, while Joe Batt added eight points and three assists.
The Vulcans return to action on Wednesday, Feb 1, as they travel to face Clarion to start the second round of PSAC West play with tip at 7:30 p.m.
