CALIFORNIA (Jan. 3) – The No. 9 Vulcans suffered their initial loss of the season on Wednesday afternoon when they dropped a 100-97 contest to West Chester in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Crossover play at the Convocation Center.
RECORDS/SERIES
• The California (PA) men's basketball team falls to 11-1 overall with a 5-1 mark in conference action.
• The Golden Rams improve to 8-4 this season behind a 5-1 record in league play.
• West Chester has won the last six meetings in the series dating back to the 2013-14 campaign.
STATS
• Sophomore
KJ McClurg scored a team-high 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including four-of-eight from long range.
• Classmate
Donald Whitehead, Jr. set a season high with 20 points on 7-of-14 from the floor behind four-of-eight from beyond the arc.
• Senior
Jermaine Hall, Jr. finished with 18 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals on Wednesday.
• Redshirt senior
Zyan Collins added 18 points, three rebounds and six assists in the losing effort.
• Redshirt sophomore
Bryson Lucas tallied nine points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals despite playing just 16 minutes due to foul trouble.
GAME ACTION
• Cal posted a 12-3 run early in the first half to build a 14-8 lead at the 13:30-mark.
• The Golden Rams responded with a trio of three-pointers to seize a 17-16 advantage with 11:54 left before halftime.
• West Chester held a 28-23 lead before Cal scored eight of the next 10 points to reclaim the lead at 31-30 at the 5:48-mark.
• The Vulcans took a 43-40 lead at the break after the teams combined for 12 lead changes and six ties in the first half.
• Cal posted an 11-2 rally early in the second half to take its largest lead of the game, 66-57, with 10:43 remaining.
• The Golden Rams later countered with a 10-3 run to work the deficit to 73-72 at the 7:27-mark.
• West Chester eventually took the lead with 3:58 remaining before Cal momentarily reclaimed the lead with 48 seconds left.
• The Golden Rams scored just 12 seconds later and prevented the Vulcans from scoring for the remainder of the game.
• The teams combined for 19 lead changes and 11 ties on Wednesday.
• The Vulcans finished the game shooting at a 53.2 clip (33-of-62) from the field, including 46.2 percent (12-of-26) from long range.
• Cal tallied 20 assists and scored 19 points off turnovers in the contest.
• West Chester junior Elijah Allen led all players with a career-high 34 points behind 7-of-13 from three-point territory.
• Graduate student Jordan Kellier registered a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, plus added five assists and two steals.
NEXT
• Cal begins PSAC West action on Saturday, Jan. 6, by hosting No. 17 Gannon, which leads NCAA Division II in scoring offense this season, at the Convocation Center at 3 p.m.
