Keelhaulers clinch Cal Pac Championship berth with 89-80 victory over Pacific Union

VALLEJO, Calif. – Cal Maritime knew its situation when it took the floor at PEAC Main Gym for Saturday's season finale vs. Pacific Union: win, and you're in the playoffs. Even throughout its pregame senior ceremony — the program honored Daniel Andreyev, Jamal Frenchwood, Lucky Hampton, Alex Maze, DeAndre Minor and Illyaas Rafiq — every player's facial expression and body language displayed the same mindset: everyone was locked in and ready to compete.

From the opening tip when Maze opened the game with a three until the final buzzer, the Keelhaulers held the lead, refused to let the Pioneers battle back within striking distance, and held a game-high 15 point lead before halftime.

Even though PUC fought back in the second half and pulled within four points with 15:37 left to play, Cal Maritime responded by scoring the next four points by either team and the Pioneers never came close to pulling even with CSUM for the rest of the night.

With the win, Cal Maritime clinched the #4 seed in this year's league playoffs, which start Friday at UC Merced. The Keelhaulers will face the host Bobcats in a 8 p.m. semifinal with the winner advancing to Sunday's 4 p.m. championship game.

Lawrence Long scored a game-high 19 points for the Keelhaulers and was one of four players to finish in double figures. Joining him were Nick Stone (14 points), Henry and Minor (13 points).

As a team, CSUM shot 48 percent from the floor by hitting 30 of 63 attempts compared to a PUC team that connected on 38 percent of its shots (27 of 71).