BERKELEY (AP) – Jovan Blacksher Jr. scored 17 points, Andrej Stojakovic added 16 for California on Monday night and the new-look Golden Bears beat Cal State Bakersfield 86-73 in the season opener for both teams at Haas Pavilion.
 
Ten first-year Golden Bears – nine transfers and one freshman – saw the floor within the first eight minutes of the contest and five of them reached double-figure points, including BJ Omot (13), DJ Campbell (12) and Mady Sissoko (10) along with Blacksher and Stojakovic.
 
"Every one of the 10 (players) went in there and contributed to winning," Cal head coach Mark Madsen said. "This was a tremendous team effort tonight."
 
Jemel Jones led Cal State Bakersfield with 22 points, Corey Stephenson scored 17 and Marvin McGhee III had 13. Shakir McGhee III grabbed 10 rebounds to go with nine points.
 
Jones made a jumper that capped a 9-3 spurt and trimmed CSUB's deficit to 78-71 with 59 seconds to play but Stojakovic, a Stanford transfer, Blacksher, a graduate transfer from Grand Canyon, and Campbell each made 2 of 2 from the free-throw line from there to seal it. Cal made 31 of 40 free throw attempts Monday night, its most makes and attempts in a single game since going 31 of 43 against Portland State on Dec. 21, 2017.
 
Minnesota transfer Joshua Ola-Joseph threw down a dunk that made it 9-8 with 14:22 left in the first half and the Bears led the rest of the way.
 
A dunk by Fidelis Okereke trimmed Bakersfield's deficit to 32-26 with 3:38 left in the first half but Blacksher answered with a 3-pointer and then a layup to give Cal an 11-point lead a minute later. He and Omot then hit back-to-back 3s to close the first half and make it 46-28.
 
UP NEXT
The Bears host Cal Poly on Thursday at 7 p.m. PT in Haas Pavilion. The contest will be televised on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX).
 
SUPPORT THE BEARS
Tickets for the 2024-25 campaign can be purchased by visiting CalBears.com/Tickets, calling 800-GO-BEARS (462-3277) or emailing goldstandard@berkeley.edu. Fans can support the Golden Bears through the Cal Men's Basketball Excellence Initiative or the California Legends Collective.
 
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