Dec 3, 2014 4 min read

CALIFORNIA – Junior forward Richard Smith scored a game-high 19 points and California shot 50 percent from the field as the Vulcans defeated Pitt-Johnstown, 74-65, in a PSAC game Wednesday night.

Smith made 8 of 14 field goals, blocked three shots and had two steals for California (2-1, 6-2). Jake Jacubec scored 14 points and Khalil Jabbie added 10 points for the Vulcans, who also outrebounded the Mountain Cats.

California started the game on a 20-6 run to build an eight-point lead at the half, but Pitt-Johnstown tied the game with 13 minutes remaining. The Vulcans pulled away behind the strong shooting of Smith and Cal made 16 of 22 free throws. The Mountain Cats were led by Isaac Vescovi’s 15 points and point guard Dale Clancy, a Seton-LaSalle grad, scored 14 points.

The Vulcans grabbed 27 defensive rebounds and made 50 percent of their three-point attempts.

Grove City 66, Wash & Jeff 61: Washington & Jefferson led at halftime, but the Presidents could not overcome a strong second half by Grove City in a 66-61, loss in the team’s Presidents Athletic Conference opener Wednesday night.

The Presidents (0-1, 0-7) led 34-32 at halftime, but they shot just 39 percent from the field and were outrebounded, 44-33. Tyler Haas led W&J with 20 points, while Doug Johnson had 15 points and Mike Resnik added 12 points.

Grove City’s Caleb Knudsen grabbed 14 rebounds and scored 11 points, while MItch Marmelstein had a team-high 14 points. The Wolverines sank 13 of 20 free throws to seal the victory in the closing minutes.

The Presidents led by nine points after starting the game off strong, but Grove City mounted a comeback with a strong second half.

Women

Thomas More 89, Waynesburg 68: Sydney Moss scored a season-high 42 points and Thomas More remained undefeated with an 89-68 victory over host Waynesburg in the PAC opener.

Moss, a junior forward, was the NCAA Division III Player of the Year last season and already has won two PAC Players of the Week honors this season. She scored 24 points in the first half, when Thomas More (1-0, 5-0) forged a 49-34 lead.

Waynesburg (0-1, 2-4) managed to stay close for much of the second half and trailed by 13 points with 2:30 remaining. But Moss triggered a strong finish for the Saints, who are ranked No. 3 in the nation by d3hoops.com.

Moss, the daughter of former NFL wide receiver Randy Moss, made 13 of 23 shots from the field and 14 of 19 free throws. She also led the Saints with nine rebounds.

Sam Cady scored 14 points and Alexa Santamaria had 13 for Thomas More.

Rebecca Kerr had a strong game for Waynesburg, scoring 24 points. She was the only Yellow Jacket to score in double figures. Mackenna Drazich, a freshman from Avella, had nine points and Addy Knetzer, a freshman from Chartiers-Houston, scored eight points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

Wash & Jeff 49, Grove City 42: Washington & Jefferson overcame a slow first-half performance to defeat Grove City, 49-42, in a Presidents’ Athletic Conference game.

The Presidents (1-0, 4-1) trailed, 26-18, at halftime, but started the second half with a 24-3 run. W&J was led by Valerie Dunlap, who scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds; an Alexa Del Greco added 10 points. Beka Bellhy also scored 9 points.

The Presidents shot just 27.5 percent from the field, but they sank 6 three-pointers and blocked eight shots, including Dunlap’s team-high four. Grove City matched W&J’s shooting woes by making 26.4 percent of its shots from the field, although the Wolverines had three double-digit scorers – Cayley McClean (16 points), Kathryn Erbelding (13) and Kelsey Shirey (11).

California 83, Pitt-Johnstown 60: Miki Glenn scored a game-high 29 points and California forced 34 turnovers as the Vulcans defeated Pitt-Johnstown, 83-80, in a PSAC game.

Glenn shot 11 of 19 from the field and grabbed nine rebounds. Three other players reached double digits for Cal (3-0, 6-1) – Emma Mahady (16 points), Seairra Barrett (11) and Kaitlynn Fratz (10).

The Vulcans scored 38 points off the Mountain Cats’ turnovers. Cal shot 43.6 percent from the field despite making just 1 of 10 three-point attempts. Pitt-Johnstown shot 40 percent from the field and was led by Nicole Carman’s 14 points.