Mazza’s career high sparks W&J; Fuller reaches 1,000
J.R. Mazza drained eight three-pointers and poured in a career-high 28 points to lead the Washington & Jefferson College men’s basketball team to a 90-79 wire-to-wire victory over the visiting Westminster Titans in a Presidents’ Athletic Conference game Saturday afternoon.at Salvitti Family Gymnasium.
The victory gave W&J the sweep of the regular season series with Westminster. This marks the first time that the Presidents have taken both regular season contests from the Titans since 2013-14. W&J won by a narrow 81-79 score at Westminster on Dec. 1. W&J moves to 8-2 in PAC play and 13-4 overall. The loss drops Westminster to 7-3 in league play and to 10-6 overall.
Kyran Mitchell backed Mazza by recording his second triple-double this season with 13 points, a career-high 15 rebounds and 10 assists. Additionally, Mitchell is the PAC leader with nine double-doubles this season.
Nick Gearhart joined Mazza and Mitchell in double figures, as the sophomore registered 20 points and seven rebounds for the Presidents.
Cal, 87-71: Behind a combined 50-plus points from senior Brent Pegram and sophomore Philip Alston, California University took an 85-71 victory at No. 11 Mercyhurst in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West play on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the California University of Pennsylvania men’s basketball team improves to 11-4 overall behind a 6-3 record in league action. The Vulcans snapped a nine-game road losing streak in the series, as they previously only won once (Feb. 18, 2012) at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center since the Lakers joined the league in the 2008-09 campaign. Additionally, Cal improves to 2-2 this year against nationally-ranked opponents with both wins on the road. Meanwhile, the Lakers fall to 15-3 this season with a 9-3 mark in conference play.
Alston registered his fourth 30-point game of the season on Saturday, scoring 30 points on 13-of-15 from the floor. He added six rebounds and two blocks while playing only 27 minutes. Alston is averaging 30.7 points over the last three games while shooting 64.4 percent (38-of-59) from the floor and 78.9 percent (15-of-19) from the free-throw line.
Pegram finished with 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including five-of-seven from beyond the arc. He also collected eight assists, three rebounds and three steals in the victory. Pegram has made at least five three-pointers in a game 12 times over his three seasons with the program.
Waynesburg,76-62: The Waynesburg University men’s basketball team hosted Grove City for a Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) showdown on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets weathered some early struggles to pull away from the visitors 76-62 and stay in the hunt for a conference title.
The victory gave the Jackets (10-5, 6-2) their first two-game, regular season sweep of the Wolverines (6-8, 2-5) since the 2016-17 campaign. Waynesburg is also off to its best 15-game start to a season since going 11-4 in the 2001-2002 campaign. It’s also off to its best start in terms of a PAC schedule since going 6-2 against league competition in 2002-2003.
Women’s Results
W&J, 65-49: The Washington & Jefferson College women’s basketball team jumped out to an early lead en route to a 65-49 victory over visiting Westminster College in a Presidents’ Athletic Conference game Saturday afternoon at Salvitti Family Gymnasium.
The victory is the sixth straight for the Presidents, who improve to 11-3 overall. W&J remains unbeaten in PAC play as they move to 8-0. The loss drops Westminster to 6-3 in league play and 9-6 overall.
Three Presidents scored in double figures. Freshman guard/forward Meghan Dryburgh registered her four double-double of the season, as she finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Dryburgh added five assists in the victory.
Senior guard Piper Morningstar finished with 13 points, which included a pair of three-pointers. Junior forward Victoria Koeck tallied a season-high 11 points behind an efficient four-for-five performance from the field. Koeck drained both attempts from beyond the three-point line while adding four rebounds and two assists.
Grove City, 65-60: The Waynesburg University women’s basketball team welcomed Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) rival Grove City to the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse on Saturday. Though the Yellow Jackets fell 60-55 to the Wolverines, there was still reason to celebrate on the day.
Senior center Brooke Fuller became the 13th member of Waynesburg’s (1-13, 1-7) 1,000-point club after picking up her fourth point of the day. The veteran post player didn’t stop scoring after making it to the millennial mark either, as she piled up a game-high 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the floor. As if that wasn’t enough, Fuller pulled down a contest-best 12 rebounds for her team-leading fourth double-double of the season and tied with freshman teammate Madisen Dayton for the game lead with four steals.