Cal Maritime suffers setback vs. USK in Saturday’s Cal Pac clash

VALLEJO, Calif. – By forcing Saint Katherine to shoot 1-for-12 from three throughout the opening 20 minutes of Saturday's Cal Pac contest at PEAC Main Gym, Cal Maritime turned an early 13-point deficit into an eventual six-point lead early in the second half. 

Trailing 26-13 with 5:30 remaining until halftime, Cal Maritime caught fire and scored 14 of the final 18 points before the break to pull within three of the visiting Firebirds.

Fouled on a thunderous dunk, DeAndre Minor converted the three-point play followed by another three, from Alex Maze, which cut the team's deficit to single digits before USK's Chris Harper ended that scoring outburst with a layup.

The Keelhaulers responded with consecutive threes from Everett Perrot and Lunden Taylor before a layup from Perrot capped an 8-0 run and pulled CSUM within one with 40 seconds on the clock.

Clearly knocked on their heels, the Firebirds pushed their lead to three before the break; once play resumed, Cal Maritime scored the first nine points of the half to create a game-high six-point lead.

As was the case before halftime, CSUM's defense frustrated Saint Katherine as it was held scoreless for nearly four minutes before a Xavier Cooper free throw ended the Keelhaulers' 9-0 run.

By responding to CSUM's scoring streak with an eight-point run of its own, USK regained its lead and saw the Keelhaulers pull even on two occasions before another six straight points helped the Firebirds hold the lead for good in a game they won by a 71-55 score after pulling away throughout the final minutes of action.

By connecting on 7 of 13 shots from the floor, including a pair of field goals from three, Perrot led all Keelhaulers with 17 points. Lucky Hampton finished his night with 10 points by hitting both attempts inside and behind the three-point arc.

Cal Maritime will wrap-up its three-game conference homestand at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday against UC Merced and enters that contest with an 0-9 overall and 0-2 league mark.

Saint Katherine will return to Southern California with respective records of 7-1 and 2-0.