Cal Bears guard DeJuan Campbell (3) is all smiles on opening night against the CSUB Roadrunners at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley on Mon Nov 4, 2024 (Cal Bears X photo)

Monday, Nov. 4, 2024

Haas Pavilion, Berkeley, California

CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners 73 (0-1)

California Golden Bears 86 (1-0)

By Stephen Ruderman

The Cal Bears (1-0) opened the 2024-2025 season, and a bunch of new faces shined in an 86-73 win over the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (0-1) at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley on Monday night.

Following a brutal 3-29 2022-2023 season, the Bears bounced back under first-year head coach Mark Madssn to go 13-19. It wasn’t the greatest record ever, but it didn’t come without its memorable and heartbreaking moments.

The Bears had some epic come-from-behind wins last season, as well as big wins against stronger teams. They even had a chance at a winning season until they lost their final four.

Most of the faces from last season are gone, and the Bears are now in the Atlantic Coast Conference as Madsen returns for his second season. With new blood in the Bears’ locker room, and an entirely new starting lineup of transfers, Madsen would try to build off the momentum from last season.

First up in this new season would be the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners out of the lesser-known Big West Conference. Right away, one of the newcomers made his presence known. I’m talking about Andrej Stojakovic, the son of former NBA forward Peja Stojakovic, who believe it or not transferred over from Stanford of all places.

Stojakovic hit a three 15 seconds into the game to put the Bears on the board and stake them out to an early 3-0 lead. Over a minute later, he would hit a layup to make it 5-2. Oddly enough, Stojakovic was just 3-for-9 in field goals, but his perfect 9-for-9 in free throws led him to a 16-point performance.

The Roadrunners would take an 8-7 lead a few minutes later, but that would be the only lead they would hold the entire night.

The Bears went into the half with a 46-28 lead. One of the biggest themes in Bears’ games last season was that whichever team had a big lead at halftime was likely to lose it in the second half. Fortunately for the Bears, that did not happen Monday night.

Yes, the Roadrunners made things a little bit interesting late, as they cut the lead in half. However, a strong finish gave the Bears a comfortable 86-73 win.

The leading scorer for the Bears Monday night with 17 points was Jovan a Blacksher Jr., a transfer from Grand Canyon University playing his sixth season of college basketball. Blacksher was 6-for-14 in field goals, and 3-for-7 from beyond the arc.

BJ Omot, a transfer from the University of North Dakota, scored 13 points. DJ Campbell, who transferred from Stockton University, scored 12; and Mady Sissoko, who came over from Michigan State University, scored 10.

The Bears are 1-0, and they will welcome the Cal Poly Mustangs into Haas Pavilion Thursday night. Tipoff will be at 7 p.m.