Bears Blow 19-Point Lead, Fall to St. Joe's 76-75 in NIT Round Two

BERKELEY - The Bears lost a heartbreaker in Round 2 of the NIT, blowing a 19-point second half lead to fall 76-75 to St. Joseph’s Sunday night in Haas Pavilion.

St. Joe’s came into the game on a strong run, winning 8 of their last 9, including a 69-64 first round win over Colorado State but the Bears were dominating the game - until they weren’t.

"Not the outcome we wanted tonight," Cal head coach Mark Madsen said after the game. "I give St Joseph's a lot of credit. They came out and played an outstanding second half."

Missing one of their best perimeter scorers with John Camden (13.8 ppg) out with a surprise knee injury, the Bears struggled to find a rhythm on offense and fell behind 7-0 before Dejuan Campbell finally put the Bears on the board with a 3 at the 16:55 mark.

The Hawks were aggressive on both ends of the court and built their lead to 16-8 at the 13:09 mark before the Bears came to life, scoring 8 straight points on free throws by Semetri Carr‍ and Dai Dai Ames‍ followed by back-to-back 3’s by forward Sammie Yeanay‍ and Carr to tie it at 16.

St. Joe’s answered with a Jaiden Glover-Toscano (24 points) three but the Bears came back with a Lee Dort dunk and a Carr putback to give the Bears their first lead, 20-19 with 9:29 left in the half.

The Bears finished off the half on a 17-7 run capped by an Ames buzzer beater to send the Bears into the locker room up 8 with a 41-33 lead.

The Bears continued their strong play at both ends of the court, opening up the second half on an 11-2 run, extending their lead to 17 with 15:47 left in the game, keyed by threes from Chris Bell‍ and Ames, putting the redshirt junior guard over the career 1,000 point mark.

Another Bell 3 - the third straight Cal scoring possession with a 3 by the senior - put the Bears up 19 at 61-42 with 13:34 remaining but some scrappy play by the Hawks and some shoddy defense and possessions by the Bears allowed St. John’s to claw their way back into the game. A 26-13 Hawks run capped a wide-open deep 3 and layup by Glover-Toscano narrowed the Bears’ lead to just 4 before a soft Bell jumper gave the Bears a little breathing room at 74-68 with 3:47 remaining.

An easy stroll down the lane and slam by center Justice Ajogbor and a 3 by guard Austin Williford cut the Bears lead to just 1 with 2:30 left. After a Pippen free throw following a hard foul, guard Derek Simpson hit a 3 to give the Hawks their first lead of the half, 76-75 with 1:50 left.

The Bears had several chances to retake the lead, including an Ames layup attempt before the buzzer after a defensive stop but Ames’ shot was blocked by Glover-Toscano, effectively ending the Bears’ season.

The Bears had a timeout they could have used after pulling down the rebound with 5 seconds left but Madsen felt the Bears had a better opportunity to score taking the ball up the court.

"We secured the rebound, we raced it down the court and got to look at the rim," Madsen said. "You know, in a situation like that, as I'm looking at it develop, I'm thinking, we have an advantage. We can get to the rim here. And so I made the decision not to call the timeout, because sometimes, if you call the timeout and you let the defense set, you end up getting a worse shot."

It looked like madson's gamble was about to pay off until Glover-Toscano swooped in for the game-clinching block.

24 points in the paint as well as St. Joe’s 15^th ranked defense kicking in and forcing turnovers and bad shots during their run keyed the Hawks’ stirring comeback win.

"This is what the group has done over the last two and a half months," St Joe's head coach Steve Donahue said. "It's just mostly on the defensive end, but you give Cal credit, and I thought they particularly Bell got going late, but just can't tell you how thrilled for these guys, because you work really hard and to be in this tournament."

Asked after the game about the potential for returning for his season season, Ames noted,"I believe I should be here next year."

“I’m proud of this group of players because … a lot of people wrote off these players (and) a lot of people wrote off our team," Madsen said. "We did things as a team that have not been done here at Cal for a long time."

Bell led the Bears with 23 points on 9-17 shooting to conclude his Cal career. He also hit 5-12 from the perimeter.

The Hawks moved to 24-11 and the Bears fell to 22-12 on the season - Cal’s first 20-win season in a decade.