CALIFORNIA, Pa. – Elijah Cottrill notched 20 points and Stevan Rodriguez 18 points in a back and forth battle, but the Golden Eagles' comeback attempt against Cal U fell short as the Vulcans took a 76-67 decision at the Convocation Center on Wednesday. Clarion falls to 4-16 on the year and 3-11 in PSA play. The Golden Eagles will be back in action on Saturday when they return home to take on Seton Hill as the second half as PSAC play starts at 3 pm.
 
Cottrill's scoring night was his best output since notching a season-high 20 points against Gannon, and the senior guard also added four boards, three assists and a steal. Rodriguez contributed seven rebounds, an assist and one blocked shot, while Kaison Branch also added 11 points, three rebounds and three assists.. 
 
Cottrill opened the scoring with a three-pointer, taking a feed from Branch and draining the long bomb. Both teams traded punches as Clarion held the lead for the majority of the first half until the 7:49 mark when Cal's Tyler Berry made a layup to give the Vulcans a 22-21 lead. Cal U only held the lead for over a minute of play when Cottrill hit a jumper to put Clarion back on top 23-22. The Golden Eagles went on to build on the lead with Cottrill scoring or assisting on seven of the last 11 points heading into the half.
 
The Blue and Gold took a 32-30 lead heading into the break, outrebounding the Vulcans 23-22.

To start the second half Cottrill continued his stellar performance picking up a steal in the first 15 seconds taking the ball the length of the floor and getting fouled. After knocking down the two freebies, Branch continued the offensive push knocking down a three the next drip down the floor and a block by Jordan Agyemang and a layup by James Price saw the Golden Eagles go on a 7-2 run to start the second half.
 
The back and forth battle continued all game until the 4:56 mark when Cal took the lead for good as the hot shooting from the Golden Eagles went cold. A dunk from Tim Smith Jr. put the Vulcans up one and a jumper from Luke House built the lead to three at 60-57.
 
Cal grew the lead to seven before Cottrill knocked down a layup, making it just a 64-59 deficit. The Vulcans' advantage grew, though, and stayed at around four possessions for most of the rest of the period. Jermaine Hall Jr made a layup with 46 seconds left to push Cal U's advantage to 69-59, but once again Cottrill proved clutch responding with a trey on the next possession to cut it to seven points. Cal U pulled away from there, though, and ultimately set the final deficit at 76-67.
 
On the night the Golden Eagles shot 43.5% from the field, 30% from beyond the arc and 86% from the charity stripe.