ERIE, Pa. (Feb. 11) – Following a late-game surge, the Vulcans earned a 76-71 win at No. 21 Mercyhurst in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West play on Saturday night.

With the win, the California (PA) men's basketball team improves to 13-12 this season behind a 10-9 mark in conference action. The Vulcans have back-to-back road games in the series for the first time since the Lakers joined the PSAC in the 2008-09 campaign. Meanwhile, Mercyhurst drops to 18-4 overall behind a 14-4 mark in league play after knocking off No. 1 and previously undefeated IUP earlier in the week.

Sophomore Keith Palek III (Woodbine, N.J./St. Augustine Prep) tallied 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the floor while connecting on a pair of three-pointers. Additionally, he notched six rebounds and three assists while playing 38 minutes. Palek ranks third in the conference in scoring this year at 18.2 points per game, which is nearly double his average as a freshman.

Freshman KJ McClurg (Morgantown, W.Va./University) scored 18 points behind a perfect 10-for-10 at the charity stripe and added seven rebounds. Redshirt freshman Donald Whitehead, Jr. (Hermitage, Pa./Hickory) posted 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including three-of-five from long range, while redshirt junior Jermaine Hall, Jr. (Baltimore, Md./Severn School) added 14 points, four reobunds, two assists and one steal.

The teams traded the initial six points of the game until the Lakers stretched their lead to 9-3 after a pair of free-throws from Jeff Planutis. Cal countered by scoring 10 of the next 13 points to claim a 13-12 advantage at the 13:13-mark. Over the next three minutes, the contest featured four lead changes followed by Mercyhurst grasping a 24-19 lead after midrange jumper from Michael Bradley. The Lakers maintained their five-point edge with 4:38 to play in the half, 28-23. Mercyhurst later held a 36-28 advantage at the break after conducting an 8-5 rally to finish the half.

Following a three-pointer from Bradley in the second half, the Lakers claimed a 44-32 edge. Two free-throws from sophomore DJ Slaughter (Manassas, Va./Saint John Paul the Great Catholic) ignited an 8-0 run, as Cal cut the deficit to 44-40 with 13:35 to play. Both teams split the next 12 points as Mercyhurst led by a 50-46 margin. The back-and-forth contest progressed as the teams exchanged the following 20 points with the Lakers leading 60-56 at the 6:45-mark. Hall tied the game at 62-62 with a pull-up jumper with five minutes to play. In the next four minutes, there were five lead changes. Hall tied the score at 69-69 on a layup with 1:37 left to play before Palek converted a three-pointer with 51 seconds remaining. The Lakers cut the deficit to 72-71 with 24 seconds left before McClurg sealed the victory with four free-throws in the final 11 seconds of the game.

Cal shot an impressive 50.0 percent (25-of-50) from the field while converting 8-of-18 attempts (44.4 percent) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Mercyhurst also shot at a 50.0 clip (28-of-56) from the floor while going 5-of-18 (27.8 percent) in three-point territory. The Vulcans held a slight 28-27 rebounding edge while the Lakers scored 34 points in the paint.

Bradley finished with 21 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals, while Planutis recorded 21 points and five rebounds. MiyKah McIntosh added 10 points and Aiden Reichert tallied seven points and three rebounds.

Cal returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 15, as it hosts Seton Hill in PSAC West action at 7:30 p.m.