Cal Comeback vs. Virginia Tech Falls Short After Bears Miss First 13 Shots

The comeback was impressive and so was the second one.

None of it was quite enough for the Cal basketball team in a 71-68 loss to Virginia Tech at Haas Pavilion on Saturday afternoon.

The Bears overcame missing their first 13 shots of the game by using a late 26-5 run to pull even with 6 minutes left . . . only to have the Hokies seemingly regain control with a 9-0 burst for a 67-58 lead with 3:41 left.

Cal then got the crowd of 4,003 worked up again, with a 6-0 burst punctuated by a steal from Rytis Petraitis that led to a fastbreak dunk by Andrej Stojakovic with 2:13 to play.

After Tech committed a shot-clock violation, Cal coach Mark Madsen called for a timeout with 1:40 left and the Bears down 67-64. Petraitis got an open 3-point try from the right corner but missed, and the Hokies’ Mylyjael Poteat scored on a post-up to push the margin to five points with a minute left.

Stojakovic converted a layup and the Bears were within 69-66 with 46.9 seconds left.

Rodney Brown Jr., who played as a freshman at Cal last season, made two free throws with 18.2 seconds left and Tech’s lead was back to 71-66.

Stojakovic scored again on a drive with 11.3 seconds left and the Bears again fouled Brown. This time he missed the 1-and-1 and Tech’s Tobi Lawal was whistled for traveling while trying to secure the offensive rebound in a crowd with 9.7 seconds to play.

A final 3-point try by Stojakovic rattled in and out just before the horn sounded.

“I told the team in the locker room, when we get consistent we’re going to be special,” Madsen said. “We were very good in the second half, we were absolutely horrible in the first half.”

Stojakovic finished with 24 points — 22 of them in the second half — and freshman Jeremiah Wilkinson scored 14. The two combined for 30 of the Bears’ final 31 points.

Three days after beating Virginia for their first-ever Atlantic Coast Conference victory, the Bears (8-8, 1-4) seemingly gave themselves no chance when they missed their first 13 shots from the field. That fueled a 15-0 run by the Hokies (7-9, 2-3) and the Bears trailed 42-23 at the half after making just 16 percent (5 for 31) of their shots.

At 53-32 with just under 15 minutes to play, the game seemed well in hand for the visitors from Blacksburg, VA. Then Cal came alive, outscoring the Hokies 36-18 the rest of the way.

Tech coach Mike Young praised Cal.

“Mark’s doing a really good job with the Bears. Stojakovic is a terrific player,” Young said. “I watched the UVA game — I thought they were outstanding, the best I’d seen them play.”

*** Madsen took a moment before discussing the game to offer his thoughts about folks impacted by the devastating fires in Los Angeles.

He also revealed that senior center Mady Sissoko, a native of Mali in Africa, got a phone call Friday morning with the news that his mother had died.

“He made the decision he wants to play and we respected that.’ Madsen said. “Mady’s mother is in Africa and he’s in the process of figuring out the next steps in terms of the grieving process, whether or not he will travel."

Sissoko played 27 minutes and contribued four points and eight rebounds.

“I was proud of him," Madsen said, "and proud of our guys for rallying around him.”