Small college basketball: Cal men get 20th victory
Phil Alston scored a game-high 38 points and Brent Pegram made five free throws in the final 88 seconds as California rallied to beat Mercyhurst 79-76 in a PSAC West men’s basketball game Wednesday night at the Convocation Center.
Pegram, who scored 21 points, made two free throws with 1:28 to play to give Cal (15-6, 20-7) a 75-74 lead. Pegram added another free throw with 32 seconds left to make it a three-point game.
After Mercyhurst (16-5, 22-5) missed two shots, including an open three from the left wing, Pegram sank two more free throws to make it 78-74 with 11 seconds remaining.
Mercyhurst’s Jeff Planutis made two free throws with two seconds to go, but Cal’s Keith Palek added one foul shot to make the final 79-76.
Alston made 14 of 26 shots and also grabbed 10 rebounds. Palek scored 13 to go with a game-high 11 rebounds.
Mercyhurst’s Steve Cannady tossed in 29 points.
Cal swept the season series from the Lakers.
WVU 79, Iowa St. 63: Taz Sherman had 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists in his return from a one-game absence and West Virginia beat Iowa State 79-63 on Tuesday night.
The Mountaineers never trailed and led by double figures most of the second half. Izaiah Brockington made consecutive layups to bring the Cyclones within 65-57 with 5:26 left before Malik Curry and Sherman each sank a pair from the foul line to create some space.
Women’s results
California 75, Mercyhurst 54: Dejah Terrell scored 33 points and California ran its winning streak to seven games with a 75-54 victory over Mercyhurst in a PSAC West contest.
Terrell scored 18 of her points in the first half when Cal (16-4, 21-4) took control and built leads of 23-8 after one quarter and 45-23 at halftime.
Vulcans point guard Ciaira Loyd scored 15 of her 16 points in the first half. Loyd had a fine all-around game with seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
Terrell grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and Shauna Harrison scored 11 points. The Vulcans made eight three-point field goals including three by Harrison.
Mercyhurst falls to 7-14 in the PSAC and 9-18 overall.