CALIFORNIA (Feb. 6) – The Vulcans featured five players scoring in double figures on Monday night while earning an 87-63 victory over Slippery Rock at the Convocation Center in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West action.
With the win, the Vulcans improve to 11-12 this season with an 8-9 mark in league play. Cal has won back-to-back home meetings with Slippery Rock for the first time since 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons. Meanwhile, The Rock falls to 14-9 overall behind an 8-9 mark in conference action.
Freshman
KJ McClurg (Morgantown, W.Va./University) scored a team-high 20 points as he shot 8-of-11 from the field, including four-of-five from beyond the arc. Additionally, he notched seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. The West Virginia native is averaging 13.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game with a .486 field-goal percentage.
Sophomore
Keith Palek III (Woodbine, N.J./St. Augustine Prep) tallied 16 points, nine rebounds, three assists and one block in the win. Sophomore
Cam Polak (Homestead, Pa./Steel Valley) registered 15 points, three assists and two rebounds, while redshirt freshman Donald Whitehead, Jr, (Hermitage, Pa./Hickory) posted 15 points and a season-high seven assists off the bench. Sophomore
DJ Slaughter (Manassas, Va./Saint John Paul the Great Catholic) added 12 points, two assists and two rebounds and redshirt junior
Jermaine Hall, Jr. (Baltimore, Md./Severn School) finished with nine points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Palek connected from long range to give the Vulcans an early 10-4 lead at the 17:01-mark in the first half. The Rock answered by scoring six of the next 10 points to trim the deficit to 14-10. A mid-range jumper from McClurg gave Cal a double-digit advantage at 26-16 with 9:36 left in the first half. The teams split the next 24 points as the Vulcans maintained their double-figure edge by a margin of 38-28 with less than three minutes remaining. A layup from Slaughter ignited an 11-4 run as Cal finished the half with momentum and a 49-32 lead.
The teams exchanged the initial 14 points of the second half as The Rock trailed 56-39. Slippery Rock conducted a 12-7 rally to trim the deficit to 63-51 following a three-pointer from Amante Britt. The Vulcans grasped a 69-52 advantage after a 6-1 run with 11:55 to play. At the 8:07-mark, McClurg extended the Cal lead to 20-points after a layup off the dish from Whitehead. The Vulcans tallied six of the next nine points to stretch their advantage to 82-59 with less than six minutes remaining in the game. Cal held The Rock to four points in the final minutes of the game as it secured the victory.
The Vulcans recorded a .577 shooting percentage (30-of-52) while connecting on 47.4 percent (9-of-19) of their three-point attempts. Meanwhile, Slippery Rock shot at a 43.1 percent (22-of-51) with a 33.3 conversion percentage (7-of-21) from three-point territory. Cal held a 32-28 rebounding edge and registered 21 assists on Monday.
Lashon Lindsey recorded 21 points, nine rebounds and two steals. Jomo Goings finished with 15 points, three rebounds and one assist, while Khalid Gates notched 10 points and three rebounds.
The Vulcans return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 8, as they host Gannon in PSAC West action at 7:30 p.m.
