The Cal Bears Matt Bradley (20) puts some defense on the Nicholls State offense. Bradley led Cal with 26 points in the Bears first win of the 2020-21 season (calbears.com photo)

By Barbara Mason

It had been 275 days since the Cal Bears had played at Haas Pavilion so it has been a long time coming. Monday night the Bears played their home opener taking on Nicholls State. Cal was leading at half-time 23-18. The Bears sealed the deal with a strong second half surge winning by the score of 60-49. Cal outscored Nicholls in the second half 37-31.

Cal’s Matt Brandley turned in a solid performance scoring 26 points in this third game of the season. Grant Anticevich also had 11 points in this game. The Bears sank 10 3-pointers courtesy of starters Anticevich with three and Brandley who also had three. Makale Foreman and Ryan Betley both turned in two 3-pointers each.

While the Bears did trail early by a slim margin 4-3 they really turned it around going on an amazing 18-2 run inside of nine minutes in the first half. Nicholls made it interesting when they tied up the game at 23 early in the second half. It was a 3-pointer by Brandley that put the Bears ahead for the remainder of the game. They never looked back taking this game by a comfortable margin.

The Bears now have a 2-1 record after beating Northwest WA handily while dropping one to Oregon State for their only loss this season. The Bears will meet their biggest challenge Thursday night when they take on Arizona State. That game will also be played at Haas with tip-off at 7:30. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.