By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–The three points the Cal Bears were lacking on Wednesday night undoubtedly were nearby in street clothes.

The Bears received bad news before Wednesday’s contest against Eastern Washington when they announced that leading scorer Devin Askew and freshman ND Okafor would be unavailable due to health and safety protocols. For a team desperate to end a 12-game losing streak dating back to March, the news was devastating.

Then the Bears coughed up 17 turnovers and never led in a 50-48 loss to the Eagles of the Big Sky Conference, a team they had beaten in all three, previous meetings.

The Bears trailed 45-36 with 5:22 remaining only to rally and tie the contest at 48 with 33 seconds left on Joel Brown’s made free throw. But Tyreese Davis’ layup on EWU’s next possession gave the visitors their winning margin.

Steele Venters, Eastern Washington’s leading scorer, was held to just four points before fouling out, one game after he scored a career-best 33 in a win over North Dakota State on Saturday. With Venters struggling, Davis led EWU with 14 points, and Angelo Allegri added 11.

With Askew unavailable, the Bears were left thin in the backcourt as Brown started as the only true guard with walk-on Wrenn Robinson in reserve. Brown logged 34 of a possible 40 minutes but committed three of the 11 turnovers attributed to Cal’s starters.

In the final seconds, Kuany Kuany missed a three-pointer that would have given the Bears a lead. Sam Alajiki fouled EWU’s Casey Jones, but Jones missed the front end of a one-and-one. Brown’s desperation 3-point attempt then fell short at the final buzzer.

“I’m really proud of this win,” EWU coach David Riley said. “Our guys were focused and closed (Cal) out. It’s something we worked on after the NDSU game in end-of-game situations. For our guys to get better at what we practice is really encouraging.”

Lars Thiemann led Cal with 16 points, and Kuany added 10. The Bears missed 13 of their 15 attempts from distance and shot 39 percent from the floor.

The Bears, Central Connecticut State, and Louisville are the only teams left on the 363-team Division I landscape without a win. Cal gets its next opportunity for a win on Saturday at home against Butler.