Ron Banks led a balanced scoring attack with 14 points and California University some spectacular free-throw shooting to defeat Cheyney, 65-60, Saturday night at Hamer Hall.
California (2-1) made 22 of 24 free throws which offset Cheyney's 32-19 edge in rebounds.
Banks, who was 10-for-10 at the free-throw line, led three California players in double figures. Theron Colao scored 13 points. Tanyen Pearson scored 12 points.
Cheyney, which upset California in the semifinals of the PSAC tournament last year at Hamer Hall, received a game-high 16 points from Tyrone Smith. Dominique Curry had 14 points and Dawud Morris and Robbie Simpson 13 each.
Thiel 86, Waynesburg 59: Waynesburg, with its lineup already depleted by injuries, was hurt by poor shooting in an 86-59 loss at Thiel in the Presidents' Athletic Conference opener.
Waynesburg (0-1, 2-2), shot only 31 percent from the field for the game and made just eight field goals in the second half when outscored 52-31.
Joe Herrmann had game highs of 28 points and eight rebounds for Thiel (1-0, 4-1) and Devon Adams contributed 20 points and eight rebounds. The Tomcats have won four in a row.
Dan Happe paced the Yellow Jackets with 19 points. Jason Clark scored 15 points and Tim Drakeley had 11 for Waynesburg, which made only five of 24 shots from three-point range.
Thiel reserves outscored Waynesburg's 19-2.
Women's results
Thiel 69, Waynesburg 57: Amber Bodrick, the leading scorer in the PAC last season, had 34 points and 12 rebounds to power Thiel to a 69-57 victory over visiting Waynesburg in the PAC opener.
Bodrick made 13 of 20 shots and also had five assists as Thiel improved to 3-2 overall. Jena Cook came off the bench to score 11 points for the Tomcats, Kim Sitt scored 10 points and Jasmin Jones grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds.
Waynesburg, which shot only 29.5 percent, received 15 points from Jeanette Wonsettler and 14 from Kristen Lucci.
California 92, Cheyney 47: Crystal Andrews and Amber Dubyak scored 20 points each as California whipped visiting Cheyney, 92-47, in a non-conference game.
The Vulcans, who shot 53 percent from the floor, also received 16 points and nine rebounds from Brooque Williams, 10 points from Lindsay Johnson, and 10 rebounds off the bench from Keris Timol.
Williams and Andrews had six steals each, as California (4-2) forced 38 turnovers.
Briana Taylor led Cheyney (0-3) with 10 points.
Wash & Jeff 57, Chatham 48: Sophomore guard Stephanie Smith fired in a game-high 14 points, including a key three-pointer with just under two minutes remaining, to help Washington & Jefferson open PAC play with a 57-48 victory at Chatham.
Maria Hillenbrand finished with 11 points for W&J (1-0, 5-1) and Killeen added 10 points. Kayla Hilko and Barb Petty led Chatham with 10 points each.