By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–Five made 3-pointers in a span of less than three minutes–an anomaly for the 2021-22 Cal Bears–fueled the host club to their first win of the season, 75-70 over San Diego.

“(Jordan) Shepherd made a great play, I was open and shot it with confidence,” Joel Brown said of Cal’s first half run that fueled Cal’s evening. “From there, it opened up everything.” 

Grant Anticevich led Cal with 17 points, shooting 5 for 8 from the floor, and making all three 3-point attempts. The fifth-year senior has lead the Bears in scoring in two straight games.

The other three Cal Bears that have been in heavy usage thus far this season: guards Brown, Shepherd and forward Andre Kelly produced complimentary, balanced numbers as well. Leading scorer Shepherd had 14 points, three assists, Kelly had 13 points, eight rebounds, and Brown had 12 points and seven assists.

This time out the Bears weren’t tentative offensively or bereft of made buckets, they shot 50 percent from the floor for the first time. And they backed that with a 10 for 15 clip from three and 69 percent success at the free throw line. After the game was tied at 32 at halftime, the Bears pulled ahead in the first seven minutes after the break, using an 8-0 run that saw them down 43-38, then up 46-43. They then led for the final 13 minutes, 24 seconds of the game.

The Bears hadn’t been this efficient shooting threes since the 1996-97 season, and again, they weren’t expected to be dialed in like Steph with this group, this season.

“We made enough shots to win,” Coach Mark Fox said.

“The thing that probably drives me crazy more than anything is especially when it’s guys we deem as snipers,” said USD coach Sam Scholl, who obviously wasn’t fooled by Cal’s 28.1 percent shooting from three coming in. “Their snipers got off a few too many 3s.”

San Diego was paced by senior Joey Calcaterra with 18 points, and four made threes. Jase Townsend had 16 points, four assists and Terrell Brown 11 points, 11 rebounds, five blocked shots in a spirited performance for San Diego.

Jalen Celestine and Makale Foreman comprised the biggest co-conspirators for Cal off the bench, as both played extensive minutes for a second game after both were absent in the opener. Foreman was 3 of 4 for 8 points in 20 minutes, while Celestine went scoreless in 12 minutes. Lars Thiemann picked up the slack with Kelly in foul trouble, playing 12 minutes and scoring four points.

“We had a couple too many breakdowns on their good players and they made us pay,” Scholl said of his Toreros, who could have started the season 3-0 for the first time since 2013.

Cal hosts Southern Utah on Thursday evening at 7:00 pm with television coverage on the Pac-12 Network. Southern Utah has already gained a foothold in the Bay Area, losing to St. Mary’s in Moraga on Monday, 70-51.