MORAGA, Calif. – A stretch of cold play midway through the first half put the Cal men's basketball team behind against its East Bay neighbor Saint Mary's and the Bears couldn't find establish a consistent rhythm to mount a comeback as they dropped a 84-71 decision in non-conference action at McKeon Pavilion.

Justice Sueing led four Bears in double figures with 16 points. Freshman Matt Bradley scored 15 while also blocking two shots, Paris Austin added 12 and Darius McNeill chipped in with 11. Cal also made a bit of history from a team perspective, going 12 for 12 from the free throw line to finish at 100 percent in a game for only the fourth time (minimum 10 attempts) in program history.

A close start turned in favor of Saint Mary's midway through the first half. A 10-0 run gave the Gaels a 31-18 lead and the Bears trailed 39-22 at the under-four time out.

A strong rebound and putback by Andre Kelly gave the Bears a jolt coming out of that time out but Cal couldn't get much closer by intermission as Saint Mary's carried a 39-22 lead into the break. Although the Bears shot 44 percent from the floor and committed only four turnovers in the first half, Saint Mary's countered by shooting 55 percent and going 6 for 13 from 3-point range to build its advantage.

Bradley tried to provide a spark in the second half, at one point scoring 11 in a row for the Bears in a streak that included three 3-pointers. A 12-0 run by Cal in the late stages of the game, keyed by five points from Sueing, narrowed the gap but Saint Mary's had enough of a lead to withstand the charge and the closest the Bears could get was 12 points.

Saturday's contest marks the second game in a stretch of five in the East Bay as the Bears return to Haas Pavilion on Wednesday to host their third-straight West Coast Conference foe in San Francisco. Tip time is set for 8 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live by Pac-12 Networks. The homestand continues Saturday against San Diego State and concludes Dec. 15 against Cal Poly.