Bald Eagles’ historic run at Men’s Basketball PSAC Championship ends vs. Cal (Pa.) on Saturday
ERIE, Pa. – The relentless Lock Haven men’s basketball team clawed its way back from an early deficit to trail by one in the final minute, but California (Pa.) ultimately closed out an 81-78 victory to advance to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship.
As the top seed in the Eastern Division, the Bald Eagles reached the semifinal contest by taking down West Chester (#4 East), 100-76, at home on Wednesday night in the quarterfinal round.
The quarterfinal victory was the first for The Haven since 1989-90.
Following the loss to Cal (Pa.) the Haven sits at 21-8 overall after finishing the PSAC regular season with an impressive 18-4 Eastern Division record.
With the victory, the Western Division No. 2 seed California (Pa.) (27-3 overall) will move onto the Championship and will take on the third-ranked team in the country Gannon, tomorrow (Sunday, March 10) at 3 p.m. at Gannon.
The Vulcans were powered by a game-high 23 points (5-of-9 3PT) from Jermaine Hall Jr.
The game was deadlocked for the full 40 minutes and despite leading for the majority of the contest, the Vulcans could never pull away and the relentless Bald Eagles tied the game at 66-66 with just under six minutes to go.
Cal led by as much as five over the next five minutes, but the Bald Eagles pulled within one, 79-79, with 20 seconds to go, following a triple by Justice Shoats (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Holy Redeemer) and a 2-of-2 trip to the foul line by Jalen Gorham (York, Pa./MacDuffie School).
However, time was no longer on Lock Haven’s side and the Vulcans drilled a pair of free throws down the stretch to close out the victory.
The Bald Eagles (43 percent) outshot the Vulcans (39 percent) from the floor, but Cal knocked down three more trifectas and shot 90 percent (18-of-20) to pull out the win. The Vulcans led 40-22 in fastbreak points.
California built a 43-38 advantage in the first half, powered by a 9-0 run to start the game.
Lock Haven was led by its defense, which forced a game-high 16 turnovers, which led to a game-high 24 points.
Dyson Harward (Danville, Pa./Danville Area) and Gorham led the way with 17 points each and finished with a team-high nine and eight rebounds, respectively.
Shoats added 14 points, while Isaiah Stewart (Madison, Wisc./Madison La Follette) rounded out the Bald Eagles in double-figures, finishing with 10 points and two three-pointers.
Bryson Scott (Dacula, Ga./Penfield) chipped in seven points and eight rebounds off the bench.
Up Next:
The Bald Eagles’ PSAC Championship run has ended. As a top-10 ranked team in the NCAA DII Atlantic Region, No. 8 Lock Haven will wait to hear its fate to making the NCAA March Madness Tournament, during the selection show on Sunday night (March 10) at 11 p.m.
