Cal Beats Virginia Tech in 2 OTs in ACC Tournament

After going four overtimes on Saturday, the Golden Bears go two more extra periods in their first ACC tournament game. Stanford is next

Rytis Petraitis / Photo by CK Hicks, Cal Athletics

After Cal went four overtimes in a loss to Notre Dame in its final regular-season game on Saturday, the Golden Bears went two overtimes to advance in its opening ACC tournament game late Tuesday afternoon.

Andrej Stojakovic scored 29 points, including four in the second overtime period, to help 15th-seeded Cal beat No. 10 seed Virginia Tech 82-73 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Mady Sissoko, who had not had any water or food since before sunrise on Tuesday in observance of Ramadan, scored the first four Cal points in the second overtime as Cal scored the first eight points in that second extra period to take control. Sissoko fnished with 12 points and 10 rebounds but his two buckets to start the second overtime were the difference in the game.

"It's almost as if when he dials in on the spiritual, emotional side, it's almost as if his game continues to take off and take off," Cal coach Mark Madsen said of Sissoko. "I don't know how he does it. Everyone else on the court gets tired and his energy just increases, increases, increases."

Cal finished it off by making seven free throws in the final 1:25 of the second overtime, as the Bears wound up 29-for-40 from the foul line in this physical game.

Cal has played 110 minutes of basketball in its past two games, but the Bears' season is not over.

Cal (14-18, 6-14 ACC) will face Stanford (19-12, 11-9 ACC) in the quarterfinals at 4 p.m. on Wednesday on ESPN2. The Cardinal won both regular-season game against Cal, which will need another big game from Stojakovic, who played for Stanford last season.

"We're doing it for Cal," Stojakovic said. "First year in the ACC. We want to make some noise. We're bringing the West Coast rivalry to the ACC tournament."

Stojakovic made two throws with 27.1 seconds left in the first overtime to tie the score and send the game to a second extra period.

"He was absolutely masterful late in the game," Madsen said of Stojakovic.

Cal had forced the first overtime when DJ Campbell made the second of two free throws with 5.3 seconds left to tie the game at 60-60.

A critical Cal steal led to that tying free throw. Virginia Tech was inbounding the ball with 8.8 seconds left while holding a one-point lead.  But Campbell intercepted the inbounds pass and drove to the basket to draw the foul that led to his tying free throw.

Before that, the Hokies had taken a 60-59 lead when Brandon Rechsteiner hit a three-pointer with 26.7 seconds remaining in regulation  To that point Virginia Tech had been 1-for-16 on three-point shots and Rechsteiner was 0-for-4 from distance.

Virginia Tech finished 3-for-25 from long range.

Cal won despite a disappointing game from freshman Jeremiah Wilkinson. He had averaged 20.4 points in his 13 games as a starter before Tuesday. But against Virginia Tech he was just 3-for-16 from the field for eight points, his fewest points since joining the starting lieup.

Cal's Rytis Petraitis scored 16 points and added 10 rebounds, including six at the offensive end to help the Golden Bears collect 18 offensive rebounds on the way to outscoring the Hokies 15-6 on second-chance points. That enabled Cal to win despite shooting just 34.8% from the field for the game.

"I think we didn't deserve a 15 seed," Petraitis said. "I thought we were better than a 15 seed, so this is our opportunituy to prove ourself and prove to other people."

Stojakovic has not been shooting well from three-point range recently, going 9-for-48 (18.7%) from beyond the three-point line over the previous 13 games, but he went 3-for-3 from distance in the first half, which ended with Virginia Tech owning a 34-31 lead.

Stojakovic had 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting in the first half, but rest of the Cal team was just 5-for-22.

The Hokies shot 54.2% from the field over the first 20 minutes, so the Bears were lucky to be behind by just three points at intermission. Cal stayed close by collecting seven offensive rebounds to just one for Virginia Tech.

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