CALIFORNIA (Jan. 24) – The No. 17 California (PA) men's basketball team jumped out to a 15-point lead in the opening five minutes on Wednesday night while cruising to a 95-74 victory against Pitt-Johnstown at the Convocation Center in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West action.
RECORDS/SERIES
• The Vulcans improve to 15-2 this season behind a 9-2 record in league play.
• The Mountain Cats drop to 5-13 overall with a 3-9 mark in conference action.
• Cal earned its first home win the series with UPJ since January 2018.
STATS
• Senior
Jermaine Hall, Jr. scored a season-high 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting, including six-of-nine from beyond the arc.
• He also collected seven rebounds (three offensive), three assists and two steals on Wednesday.
• Sophomore
KJ McClurg led the team with 25 points on 8-of-14 from the floor while playing 34 minutes.
• He also tallied six rebounds (four offensive) and four assists versus the Mountain Cats.
• Redshirt sophomore
Bryson Lucas registered seven rebounds, five assists and four steals in 25 minutes.
• Junior
Keith Palek III paced the team with 10 rebounds in his third game back after missing two months due to injury.
• Sophomore
Donald Whitehead, Jr. finished with eight points, three rebounds and three assists in 20 minutes off the bench after missing three weeks due to injury.
GAME ACTION
• The Vulcans raced out to an 18-3 lead at the 15:31-mark behind 11 points from Hall.
• Cal made four-of-five from beyond the arc during the run, while UPJ converted just one-of-seven from the floor.
• The Vulcans stretched the lead to 19 points, 26-7, before the Mountain Cats mounted a 16-6 rally to trim the deficit to 32-23 with 8:08 remaining in the first half.
• Cal later scored eight-straight points before closing the half on a 10-2 run to seize a 53-34 lead at the break.
• The Vulcans led by as many as 30 points in the second half after tallying 11-unanswered points to take an 80-50 advantage with 9:01 remaining.
• Cal shot nearly 56 percent in the first half before finishing the game with a .457 field-goal percentage (32-of-70).
• The Vulcans set a season high with 13 three-pointers and converted at a 36.1 clip (13-of-36).
• Cal registered a dominating plus-18 rebounding advantage behind 22 offensive rebounds.
• The Vulcans also were credited with 21 assists in the victory, marking fifth game with at least 20 assists this year.
• UPJ junior Andy Zuchelli scored a team-high 20 points behind 5-of-11 from long range.
NEXT
• Cal continues PSAC West play on Saturday, Jan. 27, when it travels to face Mercyhurst in Erie, Pennsylvania, at 3 p.m.
