Men's Basketball: St Joseph's Hawks Complete Comeback to Beat Cal 76-75

Up 19, Cal loses control of the game down the stretch to end their season

Dai Dai Ames’ last second layup blocked by Saint Joseph’s Jaiden Glover-Toscano. Photo courtesy Rob Hwang.

This was not the way we wanted to end the season. Sure, a one point loss to a solid Saint Joseph’s team looks OK on paper, but losing a 19 point lead over the last ten minutes of the game makes this doubly painful. After sitting on this loss for nearly a full day, I am slowly coming to the same place Chris Bell was in his postgame comments;

“It's just a feeling of clarity for me, really. Just knowing I feel like we could have done certain things better in the game to win the game but it's, you know things happen, it's basketball. You win some you lose some. I'm not going to progress myself over one loss. It's been a whole year of good wins and good lessons, so I'm not going to let one loss determine how I feel.”

Nolan Dorsey was in the starting lineup, replacing John Camden who missed the game due to a minor foot injury. It was an ugly start for the Bears, as the Hawks raced out to a 7-0 lead and prompting a quick timeout from Coach Madsen. As with a few other late season games, the Bears were sluggish at the beginning while their opponent displayed more energy. With John Camden out, Madsen tried different lineup looks to offset the loss of Camden’s length. Nine different Cal players logged court time in the game’s first eight minutes. Cal’s shooting was cold, while Saint Joseph was doing just enough on offense to maintain an early lead. The Hawks lead 16-10 at the 12-minute mark.

Sammie Yeanay and TT Carr connected on back-to-back three pointers to energize Cal and close the gap. The Bears grabbed their first lead of the game at 20-19 after TT Carr outjumped multiple defenders to snag an offensive rebound and score on the putback.

The games remained close until back to back corner 3-pointers from Nolan Dorsey and Chris Bell extended Cal’s lead to 35-28 with just over two minutes left in the half. Dai Dai Ames closed out the first half scoring on a sliding retreival of a loose ball, then standing up and hitting a contested short jumper as the horn sounded. Cal led 41-33 at the half.

The Hawks played a relatively efficient first half, connecting on 13-of-32 shots(41%), including 4-of-13 from deep (31%). Cal took a few more shots(15-of-35, 43%), made a few more 3-pointers(7-of-19, 37%) to account for the lead. Derek Simpson and Jaiden Glover-Toscano accounted for 16 of Saint Joe’s 33 points.

Carr was the spark plug that fired up Cal’s engine in the first half. Carr displayed his exceptional speed and hustle in outworking the Hawks to loose balls and in fighting for rebounds. The shortest player on the court secured 5 rebounds (tied for game high) to go along with 6 points and 2 assists. Coach Mark Madsen replaced John Camden in the aggregate. Ten different Bears played in the first half, with nine of them scoring.

The Bears started the second half on an 11-2 run over the first four minutes of the second half to push their lead to 52-35. For the next stretch it looked like Cal would cruise to a double digit victory. At just over nine minutes left, Cal led 68-54. The Hawks increased the pace and turned the game chaotic, going on a 14-6 scoring run to close the gap to 72-68 with just over four minutes left. The hawks went 7-of-9 shooting over this stretch, while Cal was held without a field goal for over three minutes.

Chris Bell connected on a short jumper to give Cal a 74-68 lead with 3:47 left. Cal looked safe, but that would be the last basket the Bears would make. Cal would score only one free throw on their next three possessions, while Saint Joseph scored 8 points on their three possessions to grab a 76-75 lead with just under two minutes left.

Leading by one, Saint Joseph secured the defensive rebound off a Lee Dort miss and bought the ball upcourt with 35 seconds left, a 5 second differential between the game and shot clock. At this point, it’s about game management philosophy. Does Cal foul, to try to extend the game and get back the point by trading free throws for baskets? Or, do you play defense knowing you will get the ball back with at least five seconds left?

Coach Madsen chose to let the game play out. St Joseph was able to run about fifteen seconds of clock before Cal pressured the ball. Lee Dort altered Derek Simpson’s layup attempt with 6 seconds left, collected the rebound and quickly passed the ball out to a streaking Dai Dai Ames. Ames had momentum, had the open path, and made it all the way to the backboard before Jaiden Glover-Toscano flew in for the block with less than one second remaining. Saint Joseph wins in stunning fashion.

I don’t fault not calling a timeout once Ames got the ball in his hands. All of us in Haas Pavilion thought Dai Dai had the path to the hoop. Asked about the end of game sequence, Coach Madsen said he thought Ames would make the basket.

"We had a timeout left, and so I wanted to get a stop. I told our defense to attack him at a certain point, force the drive. They went in and missed the shot outside. Lee did a good job changing the shot. We secured the rebound. We raced it down the court and got a look at the rim. In a situation like that, as I’m looking at it develop, I’m thinking we have an advantage. We can get to the rim here, and so I made the decision not to call the time out, because sometimes if you call the time out and you let the defense set you end up getting a worse shot.”

Dai Dai Ames streaking upcourt as Haas Pavilion gets to its feet for the dramatic ending. Photo courtesy Rob Hwang.

Dai Dai Ames did not think Glover-Toscano would get to the ball; “I really didn’t think he was gonna get to it because I kind of threw it up half the glass, but he made a great defensive play.”

It’s easy to armchair judge this game and the coaching decisions down the stretch, but I don’t think there’s anything egregious. Saint Joseph is a long team, and without Camden’s length and shot making ability Cal could not adjust to the frenzied pace Saint Joseph initiated over the last eight minutes. DeJuan Campbell took Camden’s place in the closing lineup. He’s an experienced player who excels at perimeter defense and ball handling. Maybe you put in Sammie Yeanay for size or TT Carr for energy, but I don’t fault Madsen for going with Campbell and for Campbell to know his role. For those of us screaming for fouls at the thirty second mark, that approach could just as easily backfire and suddenly you’re down three or more and are more desperate with even less time on the clock. When Ames received the outlet pass, all of us in Haas Pavilion had flashback to High Point’s last second layup to upset Wisconsin on Thursday night.

Chris Bell scored 23 points to lead Cal. Photo courtesy Rob Hwang.

And so, I return to Chris Bell’s postgame quote at the beginning of this recap. This team exceeded preseason expectations for most of us. Coach Madsen indicated that he expects to retain key players for next year. Dai Dai Ames said “I believe I should be here” this fall. NIL funding, hiring a Men’s Basketball GM, potential new faces in the Cal Athletic Department, facilities updates, and other factors all need to be addressed between now and next season. For now, just hold on to the memories of an entertaining five months of good wins, and good lessons.