CALIFORNIA (Feb. 15) – The California (PA) men's basketball team extended its winning streak to five games by posting an 80-68 victory over Seton Hill in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West action on Wednesday night in the Convocation Center.
With the win, the Vulcans improve to 14-12 overall with an 11-9 record in conference play. Additionally, Cal has won seven-straight meetings in the series with Seton Hill and holds a one-game lead over the Griffins for fourth place in the PSAC West standings. Meanwhile, the Griffins fall to 17-12 this season behind a 10-10 mark in league competition.
Redshirt junior
Jermaine Hall, Jr. (Baltimore, Md./Severn School) tallied a team-high 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting. He also totaled five rebounds and four assists while playing 39 minutes. The Baltimore native sits ninth in the league this season with a career-high 16.5 points per game while scoring at least 20 points six times.
Freshman
KJ McClurg (Morgantown, W.Va./University) notched 16 points behind three-of-five from long range and four rebounds, while sophomore
Cam Polak (West Homestead, Pa./Steel Valley) finished with 14 points, three rebounds and three assists. Redshirt freshman
Donald Whitehead, Jr. (Hermitage, Pa./Hickory) posted 14 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals while playing 31 minutes off the bench on Wednesday. Sophomore
Keith Palek III (Woodbine, N.J./St. Augustine Prep) registered 13 points, seven rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal in the win.
The teams split the initial 12 points of the contest followed by a layup from Hall and a pair of free-throws from Whitehead that gave Cal an 11-6 lead at the 14:53-mark. A 6-2 run by the Griffins cut the deficit to 13-12 as the Vulcans countered with six-straight points to take a 19-12 advantage. Over the next six minutes, Seton Hill executed a 14-8 rally to trail 27-26 with 5:58 remaining in the first half. A layup from Michael Joiner tied the game at 28-28 and a mid-range jumper by Whitehead later capped an 8-5 run as the Vulcans stretched their lead to 36-33 at the break.
Cal mounted momentum out of halftime as it scored three consecutive baskets, two of which were from three-point territory, to extend its lead to a 44-33 margin. Jimmy Moon connected on a three-pointer that ignited a 10-0 rally as the Griffins trailed 44-43 after a mid-range jumper from Sean Dillon at the 16:29-mark. The Vulcans claimed their first double-digit advantage of the game after conducting a 12-3 rally that started from a jumper by Palek and finished with a fastbreak dunk from Palek as Cal led by 58-46 with 11:41 to play. Over the next five minutes, the teams answered each other and traded the following 24 points with the Vulcans holding a 70-58 edge. The Vulcans maintained their double figure advantage as the teams traded the next 16 points and Cal led 78-66 with 50 seconds left in the game.
The Vulcans shot 44.1 percent (26-of-59) from the field while they connected on 10-of-31 (32.3 percent) three-point attempts and converted 90.0 percent (18-of-20) from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, Seton Hill recorded a .431 field-goal percentage (28-of-65) and shot at a 26.9 clip (7of-26) from beyond the arc. The Griffins held a 38-32 held on the glass, while Cal dished out 17 assists.
Samuel Tabe finished the game with 17 points, eight rebounds, two assists and one steal. Caleb Whitaker tallied 10 points and five rebounds in addition to one assist, while Green recorded eight points, three rebounds and two assists.
Cal returns to action on Wednesday Feb. 22, as it travels to face Pitt-Johnstown in PSAC West play at 7:30 p.m.
