Jan 10, 2018 5 min read

California carried over the momentum it gained from a come-from-behind overtime victory Monday against Lock Haven and pulled out another thriller Wednesday night, edging Pitt-Johnstown 81-80 in a PSAC West Division game at the Convocation Center.

The Vulcans improved to 4-6 in the conference and reached the .500 mark overall at 8-8.

California made three free throws in the final 24 seconds, including one by Jahmere Howze that gave the Vulcans an 81-77 with five seconds remaining. UPJ’s Dale Clancy, who scored a game-high 32 points, made his fifth three-pointer of the game with one second left.

Cal, which overcame a 23-point second-half deficit against Lock Haven, led 44-37 at halftime and then had to fight off a second-half charge by UPJ (4-6, 6-8).

Howze led Cal with 20 points, Cordell Smith had 19, Isaiah Lewis 16 and Luka Andjusic 11.

Isaac Vescovi scored 21 points for Pitt-Johnstown and Drew Magestro had 11. Josh Wise, a Washington High School graduate, had nine points and five rebounds.

Bethany 69, Wash & Jeff 66: Washington & Jefferson squandered a four-point lead with less than two minutes left and lost 69-66 in overtime to Presidents’ Athletic Conference foe Bethany.

Amos Luptak, who scored 15 points, made a layup with 1:54 left in the game to put W&J (1-6, 2-12) ahead by four points in a game they led for almost all of the first half before losing the lead in the second half.

Bethany’s Liam Davis then made a layup to put the Bison down two points. Jonathan Devito then fouled Bethany’s Calique Jones, who scored 24 in the game, with 36 seconds left.

The senior guard made both free throws to send the game to overtime, during which the Bison (5-2, 5-9) scored six of their nine points from the charity stripe.

Andrew Williams and Liam Davis followed Jones in scoring with 20 and 15, respectively, while W&J’s Matt Kanan led the Presidents with 21 points on seven three-pointers.

Women’s results

Thomas More 80, Waynesburg 67: Damion King scored a game-high 23 points and Thomas More made nine three-point field goals in the second half to pull away for an 80-67 victory over host Waynesburg in a PAC game.

The game was tied 33-33 at halftime before Thomas More got hot from the perimeter, going 9-for-15 from three-point range in the second half and holding Waynesburg to only four free-throw attempts for the game.

The Saints (6-1, 10-4) had a pair of 10-0 runs during the second half, the first erased a three-point Waynesburg lead.

Jon Knab scored 21 points to lead Waynesburg (3-4, 7-7). Knab was 5-for-5 from three-point range.

Frank Bozicevic was the only other Waynesburg player to score in double figures. he finished 11 points. The Yellow Jackets were outrebounded 34-20.

Women’s results

California 53, Pitt-Johnstown 43: Mia Cushon and Shatara Parsons combined for 39 points and California remained undefeated in the PSAC with a 53-43 victory over Pitt-Johnstown at the Convocation Center.

California (10-0, 15-1), which is ranked No. 10 in NCAA Division II, remained a half-game ahead of undefeated Indiana atop the PSAC’s West Division standings. The Vulcans have won 10 in a row.

The game wasn’t as close as the final score suggests. California scored the game’s first nine points, led 15-4 after one quarter, 29-14 at halftime and 47-25 after three quarters. The Vulcans were held to six points in the fourth quarter but UPJ (4-6, 7-8) never got within single digits of the Vulcans down the stretch.

Midway through the third quarter, Cal held a commanding 37-14 lead as UPJ had managed only five field goals, no assists and committed 22 turnovers.

Cushon led Cal with a game-high 23 points on 10-for-13 shooting. Parsons followed with 16 points. Bianca Jasper had six steal and five assists.

Maddie Shanahan scored 11 points and was the lone UPJ player to score in double figures.

Thomas More 89, Waynesburg 63: Abby Owings led five Thomas More players in double figures with 22 points and the Saints closed the first half with an 18-0 run en route to an 89-63 victory over host Waynesburg in a PAC game.

Thomas More (7-0, 13-1), ranked No. 5 in NCAA Division III, trailed 16-15 after one quarter and led by only 25-22 before embarking on the decisive run that covered the final 5:18 of the first half.

Waynesburg (5-2, 9-5) was held to only six points in the second quarter.

Thomas More, which plays at Washington & Jefferson in a game for first place in the conference Saturday afternoon, led Waynesburg by as many as 30 points in the second half. Nikki Kiernan and Madison Temple each scored 16 points for the Saints.

Addy Kentzer led Waynesburg with 15 points and nine rebounds. Mackenna Drazich, Rachel Eng and Andrea Orlosky each had 13 points.

Wash & Jeff 59, Bethany 48: Washington & Jefferson utilized consistent scoring to win a road PAC matchup against Bethany, 59-48.

Seven Presidents scored six or more points, with Amirah Moore leading the way with 16. The senior guard shot five-for-10 from the field and made six of her seven free throw attempts.

W&J (7-0, 13-1) led 16-8 after the first quarter, but Bethany (3-4, 6-8) outscored the Presidents in the second quarter to trail by only five. The Presidents pulled away in the third quarter to lead by double digits before taking the win by 11.

Kelsea Daugherty led the Bison with 15 points and six rebounds.