Cal Bears guard Justin Pippin finished with 15 points against the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley on Mon Nov 3, 2025 (Cal Bears X photo)

Monday, Nov. 3, 2025

Haas Pavilion, Berkeley, California

CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners 60 (0-1)

California Golden Bears 86 (1-0)

By Stephen Ruderman

BERKELEY–The Bears opened their season with a dominant 87-60 win over the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners in what was the team’s 300th win in their history Haas Pavilion.

Newcomer John Camden led the scoring with 22 points. Dai Dai Ames followed Camden with 18 points, and Justin Pippen and Lee Dort both scored 15.

There was once again massive turnover over the off-season, as Stephon Marbury II, Rytis Petraitis and Lee Dort are the only three players from last season to return this season. Here’s an interesting tidbit. With the departure of Andrej Stojakovic, Peja Stojakovic’s son, the Bears got another son of a longtime NBA player in Justin Pippen, the son of six-time NBA champion and seven-time NBA all-star Scottie Pippen.

However, Head Coach Mark Madsen is here for his third season with the club, following a pair of subpar seasons in his first two seasons. You actually have to hand it to Madsen, who inherited a team that went a miserable 3-29 in the 2022-2023 season. 13-19 and 14-19 are not exactly the best seasons, but they were vast improvements over the season prior to Madsen’s arrival, and he played a big role in the team’s improvement.

The Bears would open up at home against the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners for the second year in a row. This was the third-straight season in which the Bears played the Roadrunners. The Bears won their matchups against the Roadrunners in each of the last two seasons, and it was obvious from the onset that tonight would be no different.

Cal got off to a quick 10-0 start, but for whatever reason, they just sputtered in the middle part of the first half. Camden started the scoring with a three-ball just 13 seconds in. Ames, Dort and Pippen also contributed to the Bears’ 10-0 start. In fact, those four combined to score 70 of the Bears’ 87 points.

The Bears then stumbled in the middle minutes of the first half, as the Roadrunners went on a 16-8 run to cut Cal’s lead to 18-16. However, the Bears finally regained their momentum in the latter part of the first half, and went into halftime up 37-26.

In the second half, the Bears put the game away, and there was literally no real drama. Though to give both teams credit, despite the Bears’ 27-point win, both teams played their hearts out until the very-last second.

The Bears win their opener for the third year in a row.

The Bears will be rewarded for the rigorous ACC travel schedule with 12 of their first 13 games being in the Bay Area.

Cal will take on the Wright State Raiders in their second game of the season Thursday night here at Haas Pavilion. For those of you wondering, Wright State is in Fairborn, Ohio. Tipoff will be at 7 p.m.