Bears Slip By Sac State, 83-77

BERKELEY - The Bears did just enough of what they needed to do to run their record to 5-1 and 4-0 at home with a tighter-than-desired 83-77 win over 1-4 Sac State. Soph guard Andrej Stojakovic‍ led the Bears with 20 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists in the victory and frosh PG Jeremiah Wilkinson‍ chipped in 16 points in his second start of his young college career.

Redshirt frosh Washington State transfer forward Spencer Mahoney scored his first points as a collegiate player after redshirting his first season, adding 7 points and 5 rebounds in the win.

"The coaches always talk about strength in numbers, so that's just been our mantra," Wilkinson said after the game. "It was just next man up. So I always had that next man up mentality to just get in there and do what I do - rebound, defend, shoot the ball.”

"Sacramento State, coming into this game, was number three in the nation in generating three point attempts," Cal head coach Mark Madsen - who's never at a loss for opposing team compliments - said after the game. "And they're an outstanding team. Their record doesn't quite reflect it right now, but that is a very, very good team."

After a feel-good win over an overmatched but gritty Air Force team where rotational players were able to get significant minutes in the absence of three key players Wednesday, the feel-good vibes largely disappeared in much of today’s struggle with the Hornets.

All three of the aforementioned players - PG Jovan Blacksher‍, SG DJ Campbell‍ and F B.J. Omot‍ were still sidelined today and the Bears struggled for consistency on the offensive end and were out-shot and outrebounded for much of the game.

The game got off to a slow start for the Bears as the Hornets took a 5-point lead five minutes into the game on a pair of Emil Skytta free throws, 12-7 before the Bears woke up. A pair of Jeremiah Wilkinson‍ buckets keyed a 7-0 Cal run that gave the Bears the lead at the break until Sac State opened the half on a 14-4 run to retake a 2-point lead at 47-45.

The surprising deficit seemed to wake up the Bears as they put together a 24-8 run of their own to go up 70-56 with 7:32 remaining on a Spencer Mahoney trey as it looked like the Bears would gradually pull away for a comfortable win but that was not to be.

“I would say I'm incredibly proud of - yes, we are down three starters. Yes, they are absolutely, very key players,” Madsen said. “And you know, they've been in situations like that before, but this is going to end up what we've kind of said as a staff, and what I believe is these injuries, even though most of them are day to day - you could look at this and say this is really hurtful to the team but I think it will benefit our team, because we believe in strength, in numbers.

We have a deep roster. We can play 11 or 12 guys, but everyone has sacrificed to make every effort to win. And so now you have players getting experience in tough situations where momentum is changing back and forth. And Jeremiah, tremendous experience in the clutch. Spencer Mahoney, tremendous experience in the clutch. This is only going to make us a stronger team going forward,”

Sac State forward Jacob Holt (25 points, 4-10 from 3) and guard EJ Neal (16 points) took over from there, helping whittle the Bears lead down to 5 points at 80-75 in the last minute before the Bears stemmed the tide and closed out the game.

The Bears will next face Mercyhurst - new D1 program from Erie, PA who lost a lopsided battle to recent Cal foe Air Force today in Colorado Springs. Tipoff will be 7 pm at Haas Pavilion - just in time to ring in the Thanksgiving holiday season.

Related:

Depleted Bears Hold Off Air Force, 78-69