Cal comes up just short to Santa Clara, 71-62

It was a valiant effort (truly it was)....just not a victory

Kuany Kuany on the swing at Santa Clara

If you had told me at halftime that Cal would put up 37 points in the 2nd half without leading ball handler and scorer Devin Askew, who had his right ankle wrapped up in ice on the bench, I would’ve told you Cal won. If you had also told me that the Bears would hold 2 out of 3 of Santa Clara’s top scorers in Carlos Stewart and Keshawn Justice to a combined 2 points through 30 minutes of play, I would’ve told you Cal won. Alas, it was a game where the role players on each side stepped up to the plate and stepped up big in the absence of other production.

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Early on, the Bears gave the Broncos all sorts of trouble offensively. Despite a 11-5 lead for Santa Clara in the first 4 minutes of the game courtesy of Parker Braun and Jaden Bediako, Cal ripped off a 8-0 run courtesy of the poise of Joel Brown, Devin Askew, and Sam Alajiki. Brown drained a pair of free throws and a three pointer (which I audibly gasped at in person) and both guards swung the ball well to find Alajiki who put the Bears in front 13-11.

Askew would be tasked with guarding the Broncos leading scorer Brandin Podziemski, a transfer from Illinois and was effective at the point of attack, but the Bears struggled on their switches. SCU caught a little fire before half, ending on a 18-5 run and a 34-25 halftime lead with Askew hurt and not coming back.

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In the second half, I have to give credit to the Bears for fighting, scratching, and clawing. Additionally, I begrudgingly have to give credit to Mark Fox for the adjustments he made at halftime. Fox gave the keys to Joel Brown and he answered the call. No Askew available and the Bears could have just laid down and quit, but they didn’t. Cal’s defense was stellar to open the second half but they simply couldn’t buy a bucket without Askew. Through 5 minutes of second half play, neither team had made a field goal and wouldn’t do so until Braun’s layup with 15:03 left. The Bears wouldn’t net their first field goal of the half until there was 14:00 left, when Marsalis Roberson drove baseline for a layup to cut the deficit to 38-28.

Cal would continue to creep up on Santa Clara, getting it down to 4 at 44-40 with 10 minutes remaining. However, the energy off the bench from Camaron Tongue allowed Santa Clara to scoot to a 50-42 lead with under 8 minutes to go(Tongue had a +- of 9 in 17 minutes off the bench). And now things were about to get even harder for the Bears. The 3rd leading scorer for the Broncos, Keshawn Justice, had been held scoreless for the prior 33 minutes until he ripped off the next 8 SCU points to keep the lead at 58-49 with 5 minutes to go.

Even then, the Bears didn’t fold or quit. Grant Newell and Lars Thiemann would continue to get physical and use the fact that they were in the bonus to their advantage and get to the line. They would get it down to 63-58 with 2:40 left after Monty Bowser hit a three and the tension was palpable in the Leavey Center. Could Cal steal one and finally get in the W column?

Mark Fox curiously used his last timeout after that Bowser 3 pointer with 2:39 left, leaving no margin for error if some free throw shenanigans occurred. Parker Braun would continue his rim running ways, nabbing the final of his 17 points with a hellacious alley oop dunk over ND Okafor to make it 65-58 but Sam Alajiki would drain free throws to keep it at 5 points with 1 minute remaining.

What would ensue next would be the most controversial aspect of the game. Brandin Podziemski brought up the ball for Santa Clara and dribbled left, where Grant Newell stood him up and Podziemski switched hands off the dribble. Mark Fox and the Cal sideline along with the Cal faithful in attendance screamed out for a double-dribble call that didn’t come and 3 seconds later Podziemski passed it off to Justice who drained a spot up 3 to make it 68-60 SCU with 51 seconds and that’s all she wrote. Podziemski would draw consecutive charges on Joel Brown and Sam Alajiki and the final score would come to 71-62 in favor of Santa Clara.

Was it a double dribble? You decide

Santa Clara Men's Basketball @SantaClaraHoops

When you need a big shot, @tiggo3justice has been and always will be THAT GUY #StampedeAhead

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Grant Newell with the ball late at Santa Clara via @calmbball on twitter

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I’m usually not one for moral victories and I know Cal basketball fans don’t want to hear about it either, but Cal did a lot of solid things today. No Devin Askew in the second half, Joel Brown had what was probably a top three career game, and the wings were mostly poised throughout the day. In my keys to the game I said Cal would have to force turnovers and they forced 18 Bronco turnovers. I also said that Cal would need to limit SCU’s threes and they let them get loose for 8-19 (42%). Brandin Podziemski had 20 points to lead all scorers while Parker Braun and Keshawn Justice helped out with 17 and 13 points respectively. Cal was led by Joel Brown with 13 points and 6 assists and balanced by the rest of the 8 Bears that saw the court who all put up at least 4 points aside from Obinna Anyanwu.

This effort and execution would have beat UC Davis. It would have beat UC San Diego. It would have beat Texas State. And it would have beat Eastern Washington. Alas, its another loss in the record column and an 0-12 start.

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