BERKELEY -- Dai Dai Ames scored a career-high 29 points for the California men's basketball team as the Golden Bears held off visiting Georgia Tech for a 90-85 win tonight at Haas Pavilion. The Bears led by as much as 15 before the Yellow Jackets pulled even, but Cal was able to make the push to victory and improve to 17-6 overall and 5-5 in ACC competition. Georgia Tech is now 11-12, 2-8.

Cal landed eight 3-pointers in the first half of action and was shooting at an overall 50-percent clip to create space on visiting Georgia Tech. The Bears led it 43-29 at halftime and also were ahead on the rebounding front 21-15. The Yellow Jackets shot 39.4 percent in those first 20 minutes and went 2-of-17 from 3-point range. Cal suffered from a scoring lull where the Bears were unable to score from the field for over seven minutes. The Yellow Jackets edged into the lead and then the game tied up midway through the second half before the Bears got back in scoring mode. Cal finished out the game shooting 46.3 percent overall and was 52.2 percent from beyond the arc at 12-of-23. Georgia Tech improved its pace and ended at 47.9 percent overall with 10 made threes. Cal won the battle of the boards 40-38.

"To have a leader like Dai Dai Ames in this program is such a great thing for Cal basketball," Cal head coach Mark Madsen said. "You got to see him score close to 30 points, but what you don't see is the leadership in the locker room -- just the greatness of spirit of who he is, and just the fact that all he wants to do is win. He wants to make his teammates better, and he was outstanding."

In addition to Ames' career count of 29 points, four other Cal starters hit double digits in the win, with John Camden tallying 15, Chris Bell at 14, Justin Pippen at 13 and Milos Ilic with a season-high 11 to mark the first game of the season where all five Bear starters scored in double figures. Ames, Bell and Camden each hit three 3-pointers for Cal. Georgia Tech also had five double-digit scorers, led by Akai Fleming's 19 points along with Chase Kelley III (15), Jaeden Mustaf (14), Kam Craft (14) and Baye Ndongo (10). Ndongo also had a game-high 12 rebounds for the Yellow Jackets. 

Cal delivered the first eight points of the game with Dai Dai Ames, Milos Ilic and Justin Pippen contributing to the early cause. Ames was up to 10 points all his own not seven minutes into the action, delivering a jumper to net a 17-9 Cal lead at 13:25. A steal and a 3-pointer from DeJuan Campbell gave the Bears a boost later, and Ames and John Camden followed his lead with their own threes to craft a 26-13 Cal advantage with 8:45 on the clock. Georgia Tech chipped the margin down with a 7-0 rally, only to see Chris Bell and Justin Pippen join the 3-point party for Cal to build a 32-20 lead with 5:40 left in the half. In the last 1:30, Campbell and Camden both added to their 3-point tally before Ames got his total to 15, and the Bears would lead it 43-29 at halftime. 

An Ames 3-pointer a minute in gave Cal its largest lead of the game at 46-31, but the Yellow Jackets capitalized on a cold snap by Cal and worked into their first lead of the game, up 53-49 at 14:08 as only free throws were falling for the Bears. Bell broke up a stretch of over seven minutes where Cal had come up empty from the field, landing a jumper to edge the Bears to a 54-53 lead at 12:50. It was a one-point margin at 9:30, but the Bears found buckets to get a little space. Bell busted out a big three at 5:55 for a 70-65 lead, and after the Yellow Jackets came up empty at the stripe, Milos Ilic struck in the paint to lock in a 72-65 lead for Cal with 5:20 remaining. Georgia Tech found a couple key 3-pointers around one from Bell, and another Yellow Jacket bucket had the scoreline at 80-77 with 1:10 to go. That would be as close as the visitors would get, though. Ilic knocked down some clutch free throws in the final minute, and Ames and Camden followed suit to keep the Yellow Jackets at bay down the stretch to help close out a final 90-85 Cal win.

NEXT: The Bears now turn to host No. 20/19 Clemson at 5 p.m. on Saturday at Haas Pavilion.

NOTABLE:
- With a career-high 29 points, Dai Dai Ames scored in double figures for a team-best 20th time this season.
- He has also now recorded nine 20-point games as a Bear.
- With 15 points, John Camden scored in double digits for the 17th time this season.
- Camden has now made at least one 3-pointer in 22 of Cal's 23 games.
- With 14 points, Chris Bell hit double digits for the 17th time this season.
- With 13 points, Justin Pippen scored in double figures for the 19th time this season.
- Milos Ilic scored a season-high 11 points.
- For the first time this season, all five Cal starters scored in double figures. 
- Cal's 90 points tonight marked the sixth 90-plus game this season -- tying the most such performances in a season since 2009-10.

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