BERKELEY -- The California men's basketball team pinned up its fifth straight win by fending off Pacific for a 67-61 victory today, keeping the Golden Bears perfect at Haas Pavilion this season. Four Bears hit double digits while the defense made the stops it needed to improve Cal to 8-1 overall. The Tigers are now 7-3 overall.
Cal was shooting well through most of the first half, starting hot before a late cold spell allowed Pacific to get the margin down to single digits. The Bears were up 36-27 at halftime after shooting 56 percent with five 3-pointers landed in those first 20 minutes. The Tigers heated up late and would wrap the half shooting 33.3 percent overall while leading on the boards by a powerful 24-10 mark. Cal improved its rebounding efforts in the second half and held off the Tigers as they pushed to narrow the gap. It was a two-point game in the final minute of play, but Cal got the stops it needed and finished things off from the free-throw line to secure the 67-61 win. Cal wrapped the game shooting 46 percent overall with eight 3-pointers made to outpace Pacific's 37.1 percent overall and seven threes made, although the Tigers did win the battle of the boards 42-31.
Justin Pippen led all scorers on the day with 16 points, with
Dai Dai Ames adding 15,
John Camden hitting 13 and
Chris Bell with 11 for Cal. Pacific was led by Isaac Jack's double-double on 15 points and 16 rebounds, with TJ Wainwright adding 13 points for the Tigers.
Cal drained a trio of threes in the first five minutes to help build out a 12-2 lead on the Tigers. Cal forced a pair of shot clock violations out of Pacific in that stretch, and later got
John Camden in on the 3-point party to craft a 19-6 Bear advantage with 12:00 on the clock. After the Tigers hit their first three of the day,Â
Chris Bell rose up for back-to-back jumpers that carried Cal ahead 23-9. Pacific would find its scoring touch in the next stretch, cutting the margin down to 29-23 with 3:15 to go, only to see
Dai Dai Ames scored five straight points and Cal force another Tiger shot clock violation to edge back ahead 34-23 entering the last two minutes of the half. The scoring pace cooled in that final run, and Cal was holding a 36-27 lead at halftime.
With the score at 46-36 Cal, the Bears came out of the timeout and drained two 3-pointers around one from the Tigers to make it 52-39 at 13:15. Pacific countered with an 8-0 rally that carved the deficit down to 52-47 three minutes later.
Chris Bell broke the Cal silence with a smooth 3-pointer at 9:55 to give the Bears a boost. It was a five-point game once more with 3:30 to go. Pippen put away a couple free-throw tosses and followed those with a key bucket to net a 63-54 Cal advantage at 2:45, although Pacific hit a three next. The score sat at 63-59 entering the final minute and dwindled to 63-61 with 26 seconds left thanks to a 7-0 Tiger rally. The Bears held their ground, however, getting a couple big defensive stops and converting four free throws in the final seconds to secure the 67-61 win.
NEXT:Â Cal is playing out the calendar year on home turf, with another two games set for next week. On Tuesday, the Bears host Dominican at 7 p.m. before turning to take on Northwestern State next Saturday (Dec. 13) at Haas Pavilion.
NOTABLE:
-Â
Justin Pippen (15 points) andÂ
Dai Dai Ames (14) both scored in double digits for the eighth time this season.
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John Camden (13 points) and
Chris Bell (11) both scored in double figures for the seventh time this season.
- Cal is now 5-0 when holding teams to under 70 points.
- Cal's 8-1 overall record is its best since 2014, when the Bears opened up 10-1.
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