Bears Battle to Impressive 77-68 Win over Florida State

BERKELEY - Facing a hot Florida State team who was winners of 4 of their last 5 games by double digits without their leading scorer, the Bears put together a gutty, hard-nosed outing, upsetting 13-5 (4-3 Florida State, 77-68 with guard Andrej Stojakovic‍ absent with an illness.

The Bears got a stellar game from forward Rytis Petraitis‍, who was seemingly all over the floor, compiling 12 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal in the win to celebrate his 22nd birthday. and center Mady Sissoko, who had his best game as a Bear with 14 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks in the win. The Bears also got 18 points from frosh guard Jeremiah Wilkinson‍ in his first start, though he struggled with a 6-for-17 night from the floor.

"I just want to do what I can to win," Petraitis said after the game. "I mean, that's really the goal. I feel like that's the way Madsen played, too. So I tried to emulate that in the way, just do the little things, read the ball off the rim and help my teammates get better. And that's what we did. That's why I tried to do today. And we went out with the win."

The Bears outrebounded a long, athletic Seminoles team 47-42 and converted 19-of-22 free throws, with FSU held to a paltry 3-of-5 from the stripe. They also had 13 assists to FSU’s 12.

"We talk a lot in our locker room about strength in numbers," head coach Mark Madsen said after the win. "Tonight, we were without a great member of the team - Andrej Stojacovik - and we had a lot of guys really step up and play well. I think we had five guys in double figures. The ball was moving, and it was a great team win.

"Mady is an absolute warrior. Mady Sissoko is beloved in the locker room by his teammates, and that, for me, is the ultimate measuring stick. You know, how do the teammates feel about a player? Everyone loves Mady. He's one of the hardest workers. He's a team captain. He's a guy who you talk about the concept of perseverance. That's Mady. He was absolutely dominant out there on the court tonight in every facet of the game.

"Rytis Petraitis is someone who I don't know how he does it, but he just has a huge heart. He has great anticipation skills. He is a phenomenal basketball player. He gets steals, he makes shots, he makes his teammates better. He's able to get to angles and spots on the court that he nobody really thinks he can get to and Rytis Petraitis gets there.”

The game got off to a strong start for the Bears. After the Seminoles got off to an early 6-2 lead, the Bears streaked to a 13-0 run thanks to a pair of buckets from Wilkinson and Josh Ola-Joseph‍ as well as a layup by Petraitis‍ and a dunk by center Mady Sissoko‍ to take an early 16-4 lead with 13:14 remaining in the half. The run was also keyed by tough rim protection by Sissoku with 3 blocks in the early minutes of the game.

Minutes later, Florida State countered with their own 7-point run to pull within 3 and were able to tie it at 27 on consecutive baskets by leading scorer guard Tre Watkins (18.6 ppg), forward Taylor Bowen and guard Daquan Davis.

The Bears were a bit sloppy with the ball and often struggled to get good shots in the first half but kept plugging away, building a small lead and heading into the locker room with a 4-point leat, 37-33, with center Lee Dort hitting two of the Bears final three buckets following Ola-Joseph’s third trey of the game to close out the half. Much of their success was due to the tireless play of Petraitis, who compiled an impressive 8 first half rebounds, with 6 on the offensive end. The Bears also impressively outrebounded a long, athletic Seminoles squal 25-15 in the opening stanza.

Petraitis continued his relentless play in the second half, grabbing a rebound and slamming it home to extend the Bears lead to 7 then later slipping in front of Watkins on a drive to draw the Seminoles star’s fourth foul, landing him a seat on the bench with 13 minutes left after he scored 6 of FSU’s last 8 points.

The Seminoles were able to fight back and take their first first lead on an emphatic Jerry Deng slam but it was short-lived as guard DJ Campbell‍ answered with a 3 and an impressive assist leading to an Ola-Joseph slam plus one to go up 55-51 with 11:01 remaining.

Soon after, FSU’s second-leading scorer - forward Malik Ewen (14.2 pts, 8.2 reb) also found himself on the bench with his fourth foul and the Bears took advantage, extending their lead with tough defense and rebounding and an 8-point run capped by a pair of Petraitis free throws and a layup, building their lead to 12 with 4:26 left on a Jovan Blacksher‍ jumper in the key through a sea of FSU arms, going up 67-55. It was Blacksher’s only bucket of the night as he struggled going 1-for-11 from the floor with 3 points, 2 assists and 3 turnovers on the night.

Minutes later with Ewin back on the floor and scoring 6 of the Seminoles next 8 points, FSU clawed back to within 6 with 1:21 on a Watkins jumper.

As Cal fans tensed up, the Bears maintained their composure, holding FSU at bay and going 8-for-8 from the line in the final 1:10, stretching the lead back to 12 till a final Bowen trey in the waning seconds brought the final winning margin down to single digits.

"His team was really ready to play, focused each time down the court," FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said of Madsen's Bears. "They were organized. They played within the game plan that they had on a consistent basis. It was impressive to see how committed they were to go into the offensive boards. They play this way, remaining games in the season, I think they're going to make some good things happen that first year in the ACC.”

The Bears moved to 10-9 (3-5) with their second straight ACC win. Attendance was 3.062.