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Cal Advances Past Virginia Tech In Double Overtime

March 11, 2025
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Andrej Stojakovic scored 29, Mady Sissoko and Rytis Petraitis each posted double-doubles and California rallied to beat Virginia Tech 82-73 in double overtime in Tuesday's first round of the ACC Tournament.

The 15th-seeded Golden Bears (14-18) will play No. 7 seed Stanford on Wednesday in a second-round matchup between former Pac-12 rivals. Cal was coming off a 112-110 four-overtime loss at Notre Dame in Saturday's regular-season finale.

Sissoko scored the first two baskets in the second overtime and Stojakovic polished off an 8-0 run to give the Bears the lead for good.

Stojakovic made 11 of 20 shots with three 3-pointers for the Bears. Petraitis finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Sissoko scored 12 with 10 boards. DJ Campbell didn't have a basket but made 10 of 12 free throws.

Brandon Rechsteiner scored 19 off the bench to pace the 10th-seeded Hokies (13-19). Tobi Lawal totaled 17 points and 12 rebounds. Jaydon Young missed all 11 of his 3-point attempts and scored 12.

Rechsteiner buried a 3-pointer with 27 seconds remaining in regulation after Virginia Tech had missed eight straight from beyond the arc to give the Hokies their first lead of the second half at 60-59. Jovan Blacksher Jr. tipped an inbound pass, and Campbell came up with the steal and was fouled with five seconds left. He made the second one to send it to OT.

Virginia Tech took a four-point lead in the first OT, but Petraitis followed with two free throws and a layup to pull Cal even at 65 with 1:40 left. Stojakovic sent it to a second OT tied at 67 with two late free throws.

It was the first double-overtime game in the first round of the tournament since Wake Forest beat Georgia Tech 114-112 in 2007.

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Cal Advances Past Virginia Tech In Double Overtime

1,118 Views | 5 Replies | Last: 1 hr ago by concernedparent
Eastern Oregon Bear
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9:01p, 3/11/25
This makes me very happy and very mad!

Very happy because the Bears won and we get another shot at Stanford. Very mad because I was at work and checking in at ESPN.com to see how the game was going. I got busy during the second half and checked in again after I thought the game must be over and ESPN had Virginia Tech winning the game 65-64 or something similar to that. I spent the last 5 hours thinking the season was over when I could have been happy.

Grrrrrrr!!!!!

At least I can get home early enough tomorrow to watch the game without depending on ESPN's website.
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HoopDreams
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11:19p, 3/11/25
I've been a huge fan of Mady from very early and considere him one of the top centers in the conference for reasons I've explained

But one more thing. In 6 OTs he's won EVERY tip. In a 5 minute OT that's huge
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ncbears
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12:08a, 3/12/25
Maybe Cal should hire Rytis' mom to coach rebounding!
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Calbear73
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10:20a
Great and gutty win for the Bears! Really feel positive about the growth of this team this year and hope Petraitis and Wilkinson are not negatively impacted by the injuries they suffered in the VT game (Wilkinson - elbow to the head & Patraitis - knee injury that he played through in the 2nd half).

As happy as I've been to see the offensive prowess of Wilkinson in the ND game and the re-emergence of Stojakavic who dominated in the VT game, I have to give a shout out to Maddy Sissoko who has been a ROCK in the middle both on the boards where he has been a force with both defensive and offensive rebounds, and for his consistent play offensively against some good centers the last half of the season.

Kudos also to Rytis Patraitis who continues to do the little things that help keep Cal in the game. Even thought he was having issues with his outside shot, he scored 16 points, many on 2nd chance efforts and gathered in 10 rebounds. Given that Cal is basically playing three guards in the game, his impact on the boards is huge.

Go Bears!
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concernedparent
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10:45a
Mady and Rytis flat out just play winning basketball. I wish Mady had more eligibility and Rytis had an outside shot.
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