California, Pa. – The Edinboro men's basketball team fell 82-77 to host California (Pa.) Saturday afternoon in PSAC West action inside the Convocation Center.
 
The Scots trailed 70-66 with 5:08 to play after a Bryson Lucas dunk off a steal. An Amaan Sandhu free throw and Mekhi Reynolds 3-pointer knotted the score 70-70 with 4:20 to play. A 6-2 spurt gave the Vulcans a 76-72 advantage with 1:58 to play. Bryce Baez cut the lead to 76-74 with a pair of free throws and Rowan Carmichael put the Scots ahead 77-76 with a triple with just 44 seconds on the clock. Antoine Arnett put Cal back ahead with a layup, he missed the and-one free throw, but the Vulcans grabbed and offensive board and Jordyn Buchanan hit two free throws to extend the Cal lead to 80-77. The Scots missed a pair of shots at the other end and Arnett made a pair of free throws to set the final.
 
Cal got out to a 6-2 lead out of the gate. The Scots answered with seven straight points with Evan Berger hitting a trey and Reynolds putting up four points giving Edinboro a 9-6 advantage. The Vulcans pushed back with a 10-2 run capped by a Joshua Ray layup at the 12:22 mark to take a 16-11 lead. Edinboro found the range from beyond the arc going on 20-3 run that included four 3-pointers, two by Carmichael, to build a 31-19 advantage at the 6:46 mark of the first half.
 
Cal chipped away at the Edinboro lead using a 10-5 spurt to trim the lead to 36-29 with 3:53 left in the first half. Carmichael hit a 3-pointer to make it 39-29 at the 3:28 mark. The Vulcans scored the next nine points to pull within 39-38 with 43 seconds remaining in the first half. Baez made a layup to send the Scots into the break up 41-38.
 
In the second half, the Scots game out of the gate with a 7-2 run capped by an Ibrahim Abdulmateen-Robinson layup at the 17:26 mark to make the score 48-40. The Scot lead shrank to five, 55-50, on a pair of Brayden Reynolds free throws with 13:58 on the clock. Jonathan Anderson pushed the lead to 57-50 at 12:34. The Vulcans responded with a 7-3 run to cut the lead to 60-57 midway through the second half.
 
Berger hit a jumper at 8:44 to put the Scots ahead 64-59. Cal answered with an 11-2 run capped by the Lucas dunk at 5:08.
 
Baez paced the Scots with 23 points seven rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal. Carmichael finished with 19 points including five 3-pointers. Berger also scored in double figures with 11 points.
 
Lucas led Cal with 23 points and 14 rebounds. Arnett added 21 points and five helpers. Dalman Alexander finished with 12 points while Bucanan tallied 11.
 
The Scots return to action on Wednesday when they travel to IUP for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff against the Crimson Hawks.