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Depleted Cal Bears Complete Late Comeback Against UC-Irvine in Overtime

By Sean Bialaszek

Dec 22, 2015; Charlottesville, VA, USA; A general view of the shoes of California Golden Bears center Kameron Rooks (44) on the court against the Virginia Cavaliers in the second half at John Paul Jones Arena. The Cavaliers won 63-62 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 22, 2015; Charlottesville, VA, USA; A general view of the shoes of California Golden Bears center Kameron Rooks (44) on the court against the Virginia Cavaliers in the second half at John Paul Jones Arena. The Cavaliers won 63-62 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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They needed an extra five minutes, but the Cal Bears came away with a thrilling comeback victory against the UC-Irvine Anteaters on Wednesday night.

The number-25 Cal Bears were back on the court again Wednesday, looking to build off an opening night win against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.

After beating the Jackrabbits, 82-53, last Friday, the Cal Bears were back at it again against the UC-Irvine Anteaters. They were able to run away from South Dakota State without their star forward Ivan Rabb, who sat out because of a sprained toe. On Wednesday, their injured list grew a bit more. Senior Jabari Bird and graduate transfer Grant Mullins joined Rabb in street clothes.

The starting five for the Bears featured senior point guard Sam Singer, freshman guard Charlie Moore, senior Stephen Domingo, senior Roger Moute a Bidias, and junior center Kingsley Okoroh.

The Anteaters opened the scoring as Brandon Smith hit a mid-range jumper, but Cal answered back quickly as Moore drained a long three-pointer. The lead was traded six more times over the next few minutes, but at the first timeout it was Cal holding the 11-10 lead. The two teams continued to play hot potato with the lead after the timeout, with neither team being able to establish themselves in front. The score sat even at 17 when another timeout came with seven minutes to go.

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UC-Irvine came out of the break with seven straight points to open the biggest lead for either side at that point. The Bears broke that stretch with a pair of free throws from Roger Moute a Bidias, but the Anteaters kept the pressure on. Their lead expanded as high as nine, and UCI entered the locker room ahead 31-23.

The Anteaters came out hot again, scoring five more in a row to extend the lead up to 13. Cal continued to battle back, led by Moore, and got the lead back into the single digits. A 5-0 run got the lead down to five, but UCI answered to stretch it back to 10.

The game of runs continued as Cal went on a 12-4 run to cut the lead down to two, as close as it had been in the second half. UCI stiff-armed the lead back to seven, but Moore continued his coming out party. He scored 12 straight for Cal to bring it back to a two-point game with under two minutes to play.

A defensive stop gave Cal the ball back, but they couldn’t score to tie it up. UCI called a timeout with exactly a minute to play to get a play set up, but couldn’t find the bottom of the net. Coach Cuonzo Martin also called a timeout.

Out of the break, Moore went hard to the basket. This time he couldn’t hit to tie things up, but Kameron Rooks cleaned up the rebound and tipped it home to level the score at 62. Roger Moute a Bidias ensured overtime with a great defensive play on the other side, knocking the ball out on a drive as time winded down.

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The Bears controlled the tip in overtime, and another tip-in from Rooks put Cal back ahead for the first time since early in the first half. He couldn’t make the proceeding free throw, so a pair of freebies the other way tied the game. The Anteaters’ defense didn’t come up with the stop on the other end, as Stephen Domingo drained a three to put Cal ahead yet again. The lead stretched to 10 as UCI played the foul game, and the final score was 75-65 Cal.

Without three big pieces, the highly-regarded freshman Moore took over as the offensive power for Cal. Illinois’ most recent Mr. Basketball set the school record for points by a freshman, dropping 38 to surpass Shareef Abdur-Rahim‘s 33. He absolutely dominated the floor, hitting 10 of 20 field goals, three of seven from three-point range, and 15 of 17 from the stripe.

Rooks was the unsung hero, scoring a career-best 15 points, including making seven of 12 from the free throw line. He also grabbed eight rebounds, had two steals, and recorded a block. Domingo also put up a career-high with 11 points.

On the other side, senior guard Jaron Martin had a career game as well. He dropped 26 points to set his own career-high, but it wasn’t enough in overtime.

Turnovers were a problem early in the games, as they were against South Dakota State, but they calmed down and ended up only turning the ball over 10 times. Cal shot just 36.5 percent from the floor, but made up for it in other areas. They out-rebounded UCI 40 to 27, including 13 to four on the offensive glass. They also made 30 free throws, compared to just 10 for the Anteaters.

The Bears’ winning streak at home stays alive, reaching 21 games dating back to the 2014-2015 season. Cal also improves to 7-2 all-time against UC-Irvine.

Next: Cal Makes the List in Second AP Top-25 Poll

Cal will put that streak on the line again Monday, when their season continues against the San Diego State Aztecs. The Mountain West team is 2-1 on the season, and holds a 4-3 all-time record against the Golden Bears.

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