ERIE, Pa. (March 10) – The No. 8 California (PA) men's basketball team suffered an 89-74 loss to host and nationally-ranked Gannon in the finals of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament at the Hagerty Family Events Center on Sunday afternoon.
With the loss, the Vulcans drop to 27-4 this season while suffering their first loss since Feb. 3. Cal was positioned second in the latest NCAA regional rankings prior to playing three games in the PSAC Tournament, including two versus regionally-ranked programs. Meanwhile, the No. 3 Golden Knights improve to 29-2 overall and secure an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament following their first conference title since 2015.
Sophomore
KJ McClurg led the team in scoring with 20 points on 7-of-15 from the floor, including three-of-nine from long range. He added four assists, two rebounds and one steal while playing all 40 minutes. McClurg also moved to third in single-season school history with 697 points on Sunday.
Redshirt sophomore
Bryson Lucas tallied 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting with nine rebounds, two blocks and one steal. Senior
Jermaine Hall, Jr. registered his eighth double-double of the year with 12 points and 15 rebounds (four offensive). He climbed to sixth all-time in school history with 734 rebounds. Redshirt senior
Zyan Collins finished with 13 points, three rebounds and two assists at Gannon. He surpassed Michael Wilson (1981-85) for fourth all-time at California with 1,733 points.
The Golden Knights raced out a 7-2 lead to start the game before the Vulcans responded with a 10-3 run over three-plus minutes to take a 12-10 lead at the 13:49-mark. The teams traded points for the next six minutes before Gannon mounted an 8-4 run to claim a 30-28 advantage with 4:16 left in the first half. Cal scored six of the next nine points and later held a 36-35 lead at the break. The teams combined for 15 lead changes and 10 ties in the first half with the Gannon bench accounting for 21 points.
Gannon posted an 11-3 run in the opening minutes of the second half to take a 46-39 lead with 17:24 remaining. The Vulcans then scored twice in a span of just over 30 seconds to cut the deficit to 46-43 with 15:52 left to play. Gannon held a 57-48 lead before Cal responded with a 9-2 run behind seven points from McClurg to make it a 59-57 contest at the 9:49-mark. The Golden Knights countered with an 8-2 rally in just over two minutes to stretch the lead to 67-59 with 7:14 remaining. Cal trimmed the deficit to three points twice before Gannon sealed the victory with a 13-4 run over three-plus minutes to claim an 82-70 lead with 1:44 left to play.
Cal finished the game shooting 38.2 percent (26-of-68) from the floor, including just 6-of-31 (19.4 percent) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile Gannon made 46.6 percent (27-of-58) from the field behind a 57.1 clip (16-of-28) in the second half. The Vulcans held a 40-39 rebounding advantage behind 12 offensive rebounds, while the Golden Knights scored 22 points off turnovers.
Gannon sophomore Josh Omojafo scored a game-high 22 points behind 11-of-11 from the free-throw line and added six rebounds and two assists. He was named the PSAC Tournament MVP after scoring over 50 points during championship weekend. Fellow sophomore Derrick James finished with 17 points (all in the second half) behind three-of-four from long range, while senior Zach Hobbs totaled nine points, eight rebounds and three assists.
The Vulcans figure to receive an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament after being slotted second in the regional rankings in each of the previous two weeks. The at-large selections and pairings will be announced later tonight, Sunday, March 10, on NCAA.com at 11 p.m. EST.
