Jan 8, 2024 By Bill Hughes 4 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. “They 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.