CALIFORNIA (March 6) – The No. 8 California (PA) men's basketball team raced out a 22-point halftime lead before cruising to a 91-57 win against Slippery Rock in the quarterfinals of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament on Wednesday evening at the Convocation Center.
RECORDS/SERIES
• The Vulcans improve to 26-3 this season while stretching their winning streak to eight games.
• Cal advances to semifinals of the PSAC Tournament for the first time since 2008.
• The Vulcans will face Lock Haven, the top seed from the PSAC East, in the semifinals on Saturday, March 9, hosted by Gannon in Erie, Pennsylvania, at the Hagerty Family Events Center.
• Slippery Rock finishes the year with a 16-14 overall record after earning the third seed in the league tournament.
STATS
• Sophomore
KJ McClurg scored a game-high 22 points on 6-of-12 shooting and eight-of-eight from the free-throw line.
• He also added five rebounds and three assists while playing 33 minutes on Wednesday.
• Sophomore
Bryson Lucas set a career high with 20 points on 10-of-13 from the floor.
• He also collected five rebounds, two assists and one steal in only 21 minutes against The Rock.
• Senior
Jermaine Hall, Jr. registered a double-double with 11 points and a career-high 17 rebounds, along with five assists.
• He became the first Cal player to tally at least 700 rebounds in a career in over 25 years.
• Sophomore
Donald Whitehead, Jr. finished with 12 points, five rebounds and four assists in the win.
• Redshirt senior
Zyan Collins posted nine points and seven rebounds versus Slippery Rock.
GAME ACTION
• Cal posted a 10-2 run midway through the first half to take a 23-12 lead at the 7:43-mark.
• The Vulcans seized control of the game by mounting a 19-4 run, including 12 points by McClurg, over the final 5:19 of the first half.
• Slippery Rock shot just 1-of-11 from the floor during that stretch and was held to just a .257 field-goal percentage (9-of-35) in the first half.
• The Vulcans held a 44-22 lead at the break after The Rock went 0-for-10 from beyond the arc.
• Cal mounted a 13-2 run early in the second half to stretch its lead to 33 points, 66-33, with 12:13 left to play.
• The Rock then scored nine-straight points before the Vulcans claimed their largest lead of the game at 34 points, 83-49, at the 4:24-mark behind a 17-7 rally.
• The Vulcans finished the game shooting 48.4 percent (31-of-64) from the floor and converted 20-of-24 attempts (83.3 percent) from the free-throw line.
• Cal held a plus-11 rebounding advantage (49-38) and tallied 18 assists in the victory.
• Slippery Rock graduate student Maceo Austin led the team with 15 points and added five rebounds and two steals before fouling out.
NEXT
• The Vulcans return to action on Saturday when they face Lock Haven at the Hagerty Family Events Center in Erie, Pennsylvania, at 12 p.m.
• Cal posted a 93-71 victory over Lock Haven at the Convocation Center earlier this season.
• Last year, the Bald Eagles snapped a 12-game losing streak in the series against the Vulcans.
