Jan 7, 2024 By Bill Hughes 6 min read

CALIFORNIA – The California men’s basketball team bounced back from its first loss of the season with a convincing 99-84 win Saturday over Gannon in a top-20 matchup at the Convocation Center.

“This is a good win, and anytime you beat a top-20 team, you are happy with that,” said Cal coach Danny Sancomb. “That are scrappy, well-coached at what they do, and our execution against the press was very, very good today.”

Gannon, ranked No. 17 in NCAA Division II, implements a full-court press with two five-player rotations, and Sancomb spoke about how the 9th-ranked Vulcans (6-1, 12-1) handled the pressure by the Golden Knights (5-2, 11-2).

“We turned it over 17 times today and that is a little more than we like, but they turn teams over around 27 or 28 times a game,” he said. “We were able to get easy baskets the entire game, and that was a product of us beating their press.”

By doing so time and time again, the Vulcans finished with 56 points in the paint, many of which were on press-breaking layups.

Cal’s KJ McClurg, who finished with a team-high 30 points, said unselfish play was the key to the victory.

“Today was a different type of game and we were getting a lot of transition layups,” he said. “The team was very unselfish today. A few layups they (could have) had, they passed it. It’s not really about who scores the most or who does this or that, it is about whether we win. And 12-1 looks a lot better than 11-2.”

While Cal scored well-above its season average of 87.3 points per game, which is good for 21st in the country, it held Gannon, the top-ranked scoring offense in Division II at 112.8 points per game, to 34 points under its average.

Cal’s defense was so locked in for the majority of the game that Gannon only had 54 points near the midway point of the second half.

“We made it difficult to get open shots,” Sancomb said. “They shoot the three-pointer very well. For about 31 minutes of the game, we did a really good job and didn’t give them many easy baskets.”

Sancomb, grinning, added, “I am a little disappointed with (the defense) in the end.”

Cal held Gannon to 37.2 percent (29-for-78) shooting while the Vulcans shot a blistering 70.6 percent (35-for-51).

Gannon’s 21-2 advantage on the offensive glass led to the Golden Knights taking 27 more shots than the Vulcans.

The Vulcans have battled injuries all season, and Sancomb spoke about the play of Jalen Goins, Dalman Alexander, and Antoine Arnett, who have been getting significant playing time.

“It is next man up, and some guys don’t get to play as much, but they bust their tails in practice,” he said. “I can’t say enough about Jalen, with two big threes and his defense was unbelievable. Dalman gave us great minutes, and Antwan has been solid all year. They are two freshmen and a sophomore helping us win a top-20 game.”

Both Sancomb and McClurg spoke about the team putting a loss Wednesday to West Chester in the past past.

“We were disappointed and any time you lose, you are never happy,” said Sancomb. “But we have a good workman crew.

“We had two good practices since we played that game, and we have great senior leadership with Zyan (Collins) and Jermaine (Hall).”

“It is always hard after a loss,” said McClurg. “We came in as a team together and it is always to look past your mistakes when you are winning.

“I think the loss helped us reset and get more intense.”

Joining McClurg in double figures were Collins (21), Bryson Lucas (18) and Hall (12), with Collins adding eight of Cal’s 18 assists.

Josh Omojafo led Gannon with 30 points while Lyle Tipton (16), Michael Motano (12), and Nathan Schneider (11) also hit double figures for the visitors.

Chatham 76, Waynesburg 71 – The Cougars returned home with a Presidents’ Athletic Conference victory against the Yellow Jackets.

Chatham (7-2, 9-5) made nine 3-pointers compared to just two by Waynesburg, and never trailed. The visitors led 39-30 at halftime.

Waynesburg (4-5, 7-7) outscored the Cougars in the second half, 41-37.

The Yellow Jackets’ Antone Baker scored a game-high 23 points, pulled down eight rebounds and blocked four shots. Jaylen Davis finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Jansen Knotts scored 12 points, while Jordan McLoyd finished with 10 points.

Women’s basketball

Gannon 62, California (Pa.) 61 – Gannon held off the Vulcans for a PSAC-West Conference road victory.

California goes to 4-3 in conference play and 9-4 overall. Gannon improves to 7-0 in the PSAC-West and 15-1 overall after winning its 12th game in a row.

The visitors led 56-48 in the fourth quarter. California drew to 60-57 with 57 seconds left in the game, and then made two foul shots with six seconds remaining.

Gannon made a pair of foul shots with three seconds left. The Vulcans made 2-of-3 foul shots with 0.3 seconds remaining, missing the third shot that would’ve tied the game.

California led 24-18 with 6:46 left in the first half. Gannon responded with an eight-point run over the next four minutes, and led 29-28 at halftime.

Gannon went on another run midway through the third quarter for a 43-34 lead. The Knights led 50-43 after three quarters.

Dejah Terrell led the Vulcans with 15 points. Allycia Harris scored eight points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Iyahnna Williams came off the bench to score 10 points and pull down eight rebounds, and Sierra Bermudez finished with 12 points.

Bri Claxon led Ganon with a game-high 20 points. Samantha Pirosko finished with 15 points.

Chatham 58, Waynesburg 49 – The Yellow Jackets led by eight at halftime, but couldn’t hold the lead for a PAC home loss to the Cougars.

Waynesburg slips to 1-8 in the conference and 2-11 overall. Chatham improves to 8-1 in the PAC and 12-2 overall.

Marley Wolf (13), Kayla Howard (11), and Kalista Friday (10) all scored in double figures for Waynesburg. Julz Mohrbacher grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds.

Though it didn’t lead to victory, the Yellow Jackets recorded a plus-18 rebound advantage on the day (51-33).