Nov. 27, 1999

Box Score

BERKELEY - Sean Lampley scored 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead Cal back from an 18-point first half deficit, as the Golden Bears defeated Pacific, 76-72, in the first game in the new Haas Pavilion Saturday night.

With the win, Cal improved to 3-1, while Pacific fell to 1-2. The Bears host Hofstra Monday at 7:30 p.m. in Haas.

Pacific began the game by hitting eight of its first 11 shots and jumped out to a 26-8 lead 10 minutes into the game. The Bears slowly began to whittle away and trailed 40-32 at the break.

In the second half, Cal quickly got to within four points at 48-44, but UOP extended its advantage to nine at 53-44 and again at 60-51. At that point, with just under seven minutes left, the Bears began their charge. Shantay Legans nailed a three-pointer, Solomon Hughes banked in a shot and Brian Wethers sank a layup, and suddenly Cal was down just two at 62-60.

Lampley then converted a three-point play and Cal had its first lead at 63-62 with 4:57 left.

Cal led, 65-64, with two minutes to go when Legans took over. His three-pointer with 1:35 remaining made it 68-64. He then stole the ball and laid it in for a 70-64 lead. Finally, the freshman converted four straight free throws in the last 12 seconds to seal the win.

The 18-point comeback was Cal's largest since the Bears trailed Arizona State by 20 points in the first half of an eventual 95-78 win on Feb. 10, 1994.

In addition to Lampley, who finished with his third double-double in four games, Legans, Nick Vander Laan and Wethers added 12 points each. Mike Preston paced Pacific with 15 points.

Post-Game Quotes

California Head Coach Ben Braun:

On Pacific's three-point shooting: "It seems like we haven't faced a team yet this year that's been weak from the three-point line. Maybe that's something we need to take a look at in practice."

On Pacific in general: "They do a very good job of knowing their options. They are very well disciplined and very patient, and I thought they did a great job taking advantage of what they had against us. That's probably as good an execution team as we've faced or I've faced since I got here."

On the use of the freshman and bench players: "You just go with the guy's you think are going to help you. Ryan Kelly came in and did a great job and showed a lot of poise. He epitomizes what out team is about, what this young team is about. They are a very coachable group not concerned with who gets the credit or who gets the glamour."

On the winning drive: "We needed every point we could get down the stretch. We did not want to open up and give them any chance. My hat is off to Bob (Thompson) and his group. They just did a great job of preparation and scouting us well, and they used their experienced guys to take advantages of mismatches early."

On the Haas Pavilion crowd: "It was probably the loudest I've ever heard out crowd. What a great crowd response down the stretch. Our fans really make this place special. With this crowd behind us, it really creates an intimidating factor for our opponents and its very uplifting for our players."

Pacific Head Coach Bob Thomason:

On the game in general: "We could have won the game. We had a good run early. We let them back in the game right before the half. We maintained a couple runs. Down the stretch you can' let their best player beat you and Lampley got the ball. We should have fronted him. We finally fronted him and he turned it over. We weren't fronting quick enough from our perimeter guys."

On the difference in the game: "By and large, we did okay. The key to the game was No. 12 (Shantay Legans). Lampley did a great job. You know he's going to do a great job. He should do a great job in a game like this. But (Legans) hit two threes. I thought he was the difference. It was Lampley and (Legans), they did a great job. You've got to give them credit."

On Haas Pavilion: "It was nice. I played in here, the old Harmon Gym in high school. it was real steep. Obviously, this is more modern. It's bigger, it's higher. When it's jammed in here, it's going to get real loud. It got loud in here at times tonight."

On the final minutes of the game: "We got to finish the deal. Santa Clara was the same thing. We led all the way until about six. minutes... I think we have to get a little more physical. As we grow, get stronger mature, we're gonna get better at that. But this was a great environment to play in, it was great for our team. I'm not upset about the way we played. I'm not really upset about the loss. I'm upset about how we lost."