Small college basketball roundup: Gannon sweeps Cal on Senior Day
It was a forgettable Senior Day at California University.
Gannon pulled off a women’s/men’s PSAC West Division doubleheader sweep Saturday at the Convocation Center. Gannon edged Cal in the women’s preliminary game, 63-59, and the Golden Knights won the men’s game rather impressively, 82-71.
Frank Webb Jr. scored a game-high 25 points as Gannon (13-9, 14-12) put four players in double figures. The Golden Knights’ balanced scoring offset 11 three-point field goals by Cal (14-8, 18-10), which lost its final two regular-season games.
California, the fourth-place finisher in the West Division, and Gannon, the fifth-place team, will meet again Monday night on the same court in the first round of the PSAC tournament. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Gannon led 40-35 at halftime and the Golden Knights opened the second half with an 11-5 run to push the lead to 51-40.
California mounted a comeback and closed to within 69-66 following a three-pointer from Jermaine Hall Jr. with 4:54 to play. The Knights then rattled off six unanswered points to push their edge back up to nine and Cal was unable to recover.
Matt Johnson had 17 points, DeAnte Cisero 15 and Victor Olawoye 11 for Gannon.
Tim Smith paced Cal with 18 points. Brent Pegram had 17 points, and Hall and Zyan Collins each tossed in 12.
The Gannon women (18-4, 22-6) outscored Cal in both the third and four quarters to pull out the four-point victory. Cal led 27-25 at halftime.
Tori Obenraker and Haley Tewes each scored 15 points to lead Gannon.
Cal’s Shauna Harrison had a game-high 19 points. D.J. Hahn followed with 16 points and Olivia Hudson scored 11. The Vulcans were outscored 15-5 by Gannon at the free-throw line.
The California women (14-8, 20-8) will host Pitt-Johnstown in the first round of the conference tournament Monday at 5:30 p.m.