Mar 2, 2020 5 min read

CALIFORNIA – If the PSAC basketball tournament doubleheader Monday night at the Convocation Center proved anything it was that some things never change when the California University and Pitt-Johnstown women’s teams play, but when the Cal and Gannon men’s teams are on the same court, things can change quickly.

California beat Pitt-Johnstown 67-53 in the first-round women’s game. It was the 14th consecutive victory for Cal (21-8) over the Mountain Cats.

The Cal men made it a sweep by winning a foul-filled game over Gannon, 74-58. The Golden Knights had defeated Cal (19-10) by 11 points in the regular-season finale, on the same court, only two days earlier.

Both Cal teams advance to the quarterfinals and will play Wednesday at Indiana. The Crimson Hawks are the top seed in both tournaments.

The big difference for the Cal men from Saturday to Monday was the improvement the Vulcans made on defense. In the loss to Gannon, the Golden Knights’ Frank Webb and Matt Johnson combined for 42 points with Webb leading the way with 25. This time, Cal’s sticky defense held Webb to 12 points. He did much of that damage at the free-throw line as he was held to 1-for-10 shooting from the field. Johnson, meanwhile, battled foul trouble and managed only nine points.

“We did a good job defensively,” Cal coach Danny Sancomb said. “We were locked in tonight. We did a good job defending the three-point line – they hurt us from there Saturday – and we were plus-three in rebounding.”

Gannon was only 2-for-18 from three-point range. Cal was 7-for-23.

The Vulcans led 22-20 when point guard and leading scorer Brent Pegram went to the bench with two fouls late in the first half. Zyan Collins moved from a wing to the point and scored six points to extend Cal’s lead to 31-27.

“I was more aggressive in this game,” said Collins, who scored a game-high 20 points. “That’s what I needed to do.”

Tim Smith then made two three-pointers in the final 52 seconds of the first half, the last one a shot from the corner as time expired and gave the Vulcans a 37-27 edge.

“Those shots were enormous for us,” Sancomb said. “Brent was on the bench with two fouls and Zyan moved in and executed our offense. He got us in stuff and we made two good passes to Tim. A 10-point lead at halftime was big.”

Gannon (14-13) was within eight points, 56-48, with six minutes remaining when Golden Knights coach Kelvin Jefferson was hit with a technical foul. Luke House, who scored 13 points, converted the two free throws, and two possessions later Pegram buried a trey that gave Cal a 61-48 edge.

From there, the Vulcans protected the lead at the free-throw line, where they made 21 for 29.

Pegram finished with 13 points and Jermaine Hall had 12 for Cal.

DeAnte Cisero paced Gannon with 17 points but 10 of those came in the game’s first 10 minutes.

Cal 67, UPJ 53

Shauna Harrison scored a game-high 17 points and DJ Hahn had a big second half as Cal led almost the entire game against Pitt-Johnstown.

Hahn scored 13 consecutive points for Cal during the second half and helped the Vulcans open a 17-point lead in the third quarter.

Consecutive three-point baskets and an old-fashioned three-point play helped Pitt-Johnstown close to within 52-46 early in the fourth quarter.

“It’s really hard to play a team three times, that’s why I don’t like our conference tournament format,” Cal head coach Jess Strom said. “When you play a team three times, they know us really well and we know what they like to do. I’m proud of the kids for keeping their focus. We had some young kids hit some big shots.”

Hahn made most of the big shots late in the game. She scored 11 of her 15 points during the fourth quarter and her final basket was a three-pointer that gave the Vulcans a 63-53 lead. Freshman Olivia Hudson followed with another three, her only basket of the game, and the Vulcans had a 66-53 advantage.

Harrison scored 15 of her 17 points on five three-pointers. Halle Herrington and Brionna Allen each had 10 points. Allen scored eight of her points in the first half, which ended with Cal up 38-25.

UPJ (16-13) trailed by only 20-16 after one quarter but shot just 25% in the second quarter.

Cal played again without injured leading scorer Monica Burns and point guard Bianca Jasper was held to five points, half of her average. Jasper, however, was a big factor as she had 11 assists and three steals.

“She’s more comfortable doing that when others are scoring,” Strom said. “When she’s doing that, she’s in her element. We’re probably better when Bianca isn’t taking shots because it means other people are getting open early in the shot clock.”