Box Score
BERKELEY, Calif. - With Cal's freshman class scoring a combined 66 points, the Golden Bears opened the 1999-2000 season with a 91-83 victory over TCU in the first round of the Top of the World Classic Thursday night.
Freshman center Nick Vander Laan and freshman forward Joe Shipp each had 20 points, while freshmen guards Donte Smith and Shantay Legans added 13 points apiece.
Cal, which will have a day off Friday, now advances to play the winner of the Houston vs. Alaska-Fairbanks game at 6:45 p.m. PT Saturday evening.
At the beginning of the game, TCU looked like it was going to run away with the contest, racing to a 12-3 lead just over three minutes into the first half. But with Vander Laan scoring 10 of his points, Cal tied the score at 22-22 with 9:57 left.
The Horned Frogs made another run to go up by seven at 36-29, only to see Cal battle back for a 43-41 halftime lead. At the break, Shipp had 16 points and Vander Laan 12.
In the second half, TCU tied the game at 45-all when the Bears went on a 20-6 run to take a 65-41 lead with 11:40 remaining. Cal maintained at least a nine-point lead until the Frogs began to chip away, going on an 11-3 spurt to get within 77-74 with 8:00 left.
However, junior Sean Lampley, who was held without a field goal in the first half, scored four straight points to put the Bears back up by seven points. Down the stretch, Cal did a good job of controlling the clock to hold off TCU, limiting the Frogs to one field goal over the final 6:16.
"That was a big win for us," said Cal head coach Ben Braun. "I thought we showed some poise out there. TCU made some very good runs against us. But our guys, to their credit, showed some grit and made some runs of their own.
"We made a few mistakes," he added. "TCU showed a lot of different looks against us. I thought our guards found a way to handle their pressure."
In addition to the four freshmen, Lampley finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds - his 14th career double-double. As a team, the Bears shot 60.7 percent from the floor in the second half, while holding TCU to just 35.7 percent.
