MBK | Long Awaited Bay Area Hoops Battle Doesn't Disappoint
12/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By JANIE McCAULEY
AP Sports Writer
AP Sports Writer
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) Jabari Bird hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 15.2 seconds left then Joe Rahon missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 1.7 seconds left for Saint Mary's, and California held on to beat the Bay Area neighbor Gaels 63-59 on Saturday as the programs renewed their rivalry for the first time in more than a decade.
Tyrone Wallace fouled Rahon near midcourt going for the ball but watched as he missed in raucous Haas Pavilion, where a crowd of 10,074 saw the Golden Bears (8-2) stay unbeaten at home.
Boston College transfer Rahon scored 16 points and Evan Fitzner 15 for Saint Mary's (6-1), handed its first loss in a game featuring five lead changes over the final 2 minutes, 43 seconds.
Dane Pineau made a key layin with 2:24 remaining and secured an offensive rebound in the final minute for the Gaels, but Ivan Rabb blocked a shot by Rahon with 24 seconds left.
Rabb had 15 points and 11 rebounds and Jordan Mathews scored 13.
Their campuses are separated by all of 14 miles but the schools hadn't played since Nov. 12, 2004, when Saint Mary's won for the third time in four meetings. Before that game, the teams played only three times over the previous 16 years - with the perception that Cal, from the major conference, would have everything to lose falling to a team from a mid-major league.
Jaylen Brown made one of two free throws with 2:43 left and Pineau gave the Gaels the lead on the other end moments later. Brown then scored for the Golden Bears, who have been inconsistent since beginning the season No. 14 in the Associated Press poll.
Emmett Naar, the Gaels' leading scorer at 16.5 points per game, was limited to three points on 1-for-6 shooting to go with eight assists.
Bird's tip-in dunk with 7:01 left for Cal tied the game at 50 and the teams traded misses before Calvin Hermanson's go-ahead 3-pointer.
The Gaels used an 8-0 run early in the second half to pull back within 39-37. Saint Mary's, a longtime top team in the West Coast Conference alongside perennial power Gonzaga, is picked to finish fourth in the conference.
Saint Mary's returned from a five-day break for final exams and was coming off a 10-point victory last Sunday against Big West Conference favorite UC Irvine.
Cal made six straight field-goal tries late in the first half as the Bears used a 13-2 run to go ahead 30-21. And the Bears made eight of their final 10 for a 37-26 lead at intermission.
The Gaels missed four straight shots and six of seven late in the half.
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