BERKELEY – Junior Jalen Celestine scored a career-high 21 points in his first game in 607 days and the California men's basketball team kicked off the Mark Madsen era with a 71-66 victory over visiting St. Thomas on Monday night at Haas Pavilion.

Celestine, who missed the entire 2022-23 season with a knee injury, went 7-for-10 from the floor and added four rebounds to help the Golden Bears stave off a spirited effort by the Tommies. 

"I'm just grateful to be able to play again," said Celestine, who registered eight double-digit scoring performances during the final 20 games of his sophomore year. "I was a bit nervous going into the game, but my teammates really kept me in it. I got my mind right and we were able to get a win."

Center Fardaws Aimaq recorded a double-double in his Cal debut with 16 points and 11 rebounds while Jalen Cone scored all 10 of his points in the second half to help Cal put things away.

The game featured 15 lead changes and seven ties. St. Thomas led 60-56 with 6:45 remaining before the Bears outscored the Tommies 15-6 the rest of the way. 

"I give a lot of credit to St. Thomas. They are going to beat a lot of people this year," said Madsen, who was hired as the 19th head coach in program history on March 29. "I'm really proud of our players. You can install all the schemes you want and get all the fundamental reps, but when all is said and done the players have to go out and make plays."

Earned the W.#GoBears pic.twitter.com/fUA7sOt77P

— Cal Basketball (@CalMBBall) November 7, 2023

Senior guard Devin Askew, who was leading the Bears in scoring last season before undergoing season-ending surgery after 13 games played, put Cal in front for good on a driving reverse layup with 41 seconds to play. Cone added a pair of free throws with 27 seconds left.

Cal held St. Thomas scoreless from the 2:27 mark of the second half until just six seconds remained.

"At the end of the day, they wanted to win just as bad as we did," Aimaq said. "Every team in the country has a goal at this time of year to make the tournament. We have a brand new team and it's hard to gel together. We have so much talent on this team that on any given night we can figure out how to get it done."

The Bears return to Haas Pavilion on Friday when they host Pacific at 8 p.m. PT. The game will air on the Pac-12 Network.

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