Bears Storm Back To Beat Miami, 86-85

CORAL GABLES, FLA. -- The California men's basketball team put in a fierce final four minutes of road work to take a late lead and then fend off host Miami for a key 86-85 Golden Bear victory over the Hurricanes today in Coral Gables, Fla. John Camden finished with a season-high 26 points for Cal, and Justin Pippen dished out a career-high eight assists to help the Bears secure the road win. Cal is now 16-6 overall and 4-5 in ACC play, while Miami goes to 17-5, 6-3.

The lead changed hands six times in the first 11 minutes of action, with Cal making a 10-0 run that pulled the Bears into the lead. Cal would stay a step ahead of the Hurricanes through to halftime, although it was a slim 45-44 margin at the break. Both teams were shooting well. Miami had the hotter hand in hitting at a 61-percent clip to Cal's 55 percent through the first 20 minutes, and the Hurricanes were ahead on the boards 15-12 at halftime. The wildness continued in the second half as the foul count climbed and tension mounted. Five points from Dai Dai Ames in a 20-second span gave Cal its first lead since the 18:00 mark of the second half -- up 82-81 with 3:40 to go. Dhiaukuei Manyiel Dut had a late block, then the go-ahead bucket for Cal with 57 seconds left, and the Hurricanes were unable to find an answer. Cal finished the game shooting 49.1 percent overall with 10 threes made. Miami shot 56.9 percent overall with four 3-pointers. A total of 65 free throws were shot in the game, with Cal going 24-of-32 and Miami 23-of-33 while leading on the boards 32-28.

Cal's John Camden led all scorers with his 26 points on the day, joined in double digits by Justin Pippen (17 points), Chris Bell (16) and Dai Dai Ames (14). Miami received 24 points from Malik Reneau along with 16 from Shelton Henderson, 14 from Tre Donaldson and 12 from Ernest Udeh Jr. 

It was a shootout from the start, with the score trading hands and snarling up even four times in the first five minutes as teams vied for the upper hand. Chris Bell landed a pair of 3-pointers on back-to-back Bear possessions to help build a 10-8 Cal lead at 16:50. Miami struck back and managed a 9-0 rally to get ahead 19-12 at 13:25. Cal shrugged that right off and fought back, with Mantas Kocanas nailing a three and Justin Pippen converting a three-point play to lock it up at 22-22. John Camden shouldered the load next, extending Cal's run to 10-0 with a pair of free throws and a dunk off a feed from Milos Ilic at 8:58 to lead it 26-22. As the five-minute mark approached, Cal gripped a 35-29 lead thanks to strikes in the paint from Camden and Pippen. Camden landed a key three with 1:50 to go to get Cal ahead 45-39, although that would be the last bucket of the half for the Bears as they ended up with a 45-44 lead at the break. 

The officials' whistles blew nine fouls in the first first minutes of the second half, so much of that stretch played out at free-throw lines. Miami went ahead 50-48 at 18:17, and then Camden drained his third 3-pointer for the Bears. Miami made a 5-0 run next with a couple trips to the line around a single bucket from the floor to go up 55-51 at 16:30. TT Carr joined the scoresheet with a three-point play at 12:23 to make it a three-point game at 64-61. Then Miami found eight straight points before Bell broke up that rally to get the margin back to single digits at 72-63 with 9:05 on the clock. Cal posts Ilic and Kocanas would foul out in a 30-second span, but not before Ilic issued a booming dunk and Pippen struck in the paint to make it a two-point game at 79-77 with 4:20 on the clock. Ames went to the line later and hit both, then Camden got a steal and Ames buried a baseline three to edge Cal ahead 82-81 at 3:40. A three-point play at 1:56 had Miami on top 85-84. Dhiakuei Manyiel Dut put up a block on the defensive end and then slipped in a putback at the other end to get Cal an 86-85 lead with 57 seconds left. Miami called timeout with 5.8 ticks to go, and its last-chance look rolled off the rim to keep the lead in Cal's hands for an 86-85 road win by the Bears.

NEXT: The Bears return home next to set up for two more ACC tests at Haas Pavilion. Cal hosts Georgia Tech at 5 p.m. PT on Wednesday and then faces Clemson at 5 p.m. next Saturday.

NOTABLE:

- With a season-high 26 points, John Camden scored in double digits for the 16th time this season.

- Camden also recorded his seventh 20-point game as a Bear.

- With 16 points, Chris Bell hit double digits for the 16th time this season.

- With 17 points, Justin Pippen scored in double figures for the 18th time this season.

- Pippen also recorded a career-high eight assists.

- With 14 points, Dai Dai Ames scored in double figures for a team-best 19th time this season.

- This was Cal's first-ever game played at Miami.

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