Depleted Bears Hold Off Air Force, 78-69

BERKELEY - Missing three key players, the Bears were able to overcome a barrage of threes and 15 turnovers to move to 4-1 with a 78-69 win over Air Force tonight at Haas Pavilion. It was the type of game that a thinner Cal squad likely would have lost last season - a testament to the improved depth head coach Mark Madsen has assembled with his new-look Bears this season.

Frosh point guard Jeremiah Wilkinson‍ took full advantage of the extra playing time opportunity, pouring in 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting and 2-for-3 from deep in the win. Soph wing Andrej Stojakovic‍ also had his best game as a Bear, adding 21 points.

“My thought process is to kind of use my athleticism to get downhill,” Wilkinson said after the game. “That’s kind of my strength and the coaches believe in me and know that if I go to my strength, things will go well.”

“Great win,” assistant head coach Adam Mazarei said after the game. “Air Force is a great opponent with a style of play that you guys alluded to earlier (perimeter game, milk the clock). 

“It’s funny, we were talking - last year, we don’t know if that’s a win (with 3 starters out) so it’s a testament to the guys, a testament to Coach. We have strength in numbers. That’s kind of our motto.”

With starting point guard Jovan Blacksher‍, starting shooting guard DJ Campbell‍ and starting forward/sixth man B.J. Omot‍ all out for undisclosed reasons (Mazarei listed them as day-to-day), the Bears’ play was streaky in the first half, including nine first-half turnovers by the Bears, with forward Josh Ola-Joseph‍ leading the pack with four miscues in the opening stanza. 

After a slow start where the Bears led only 16-15 with 9:30 left in the half, a strong 14-0 run righted the shop as the Bears went up 30-15 in the next five minutes, with forward Rytis Petraitis‍ scoring 9 and Wilkinson‍ and Ola-Joseph adding 7 of the first 30 points.

Air Force then had an 8-0 run of their own and went into the locker room with a 35-27 deficit.

The Bears were unable to put distance between themselves and the Falcons who seemed to be content to run the clock down and sneak it inside or shoot from the perimeter with the clock running down. After back-to-back 3’s by guard Ethan Taylor, the strategy appeared to be working as Air Force trailed by just 2 at 49-47 with 11:42 left in the game.

A Lee Dort‍ bucket and-1 stemmed the tide for the Bears. A Petraitis steal and a rare 4-point play by Wilkinson followed by a Dort‍ free throw padded the lead to 10, 57-47 over the next 1:30 with their 8-0 run. Dort fouled out minutes later with a season-high 9 points for the night along with 4 rebounds.

The Bears twice extended the lead to 13 following their run but the Falcons got it down to 7 on a pair of buckets from 7’0 center Wesley Celichowski to pull within 7 at the 2-minute mark. 

Two Stojakovic layups in traffic and a pair of free throws gave the Bears some breathing room but a trey - Air Force’s 11^th of the game - by Taylor brought it back to 8 with :41 left. It was Taylor’s fifth 3 on the night, leading the Falcons with 23 points. 

The Bears closed it out in the final seconds, coming away with their final 9-point margin for the win. They’ll be back in action Sunday afternoon at 1 pm to face Sacramento State at Haas Pavilion.