Cal Bears guard DJ Campbell (1) dribbles against the Stanford Cardinal guard Benny Gealer (5) at Haas Pavilion in Berekeley on Sat Feb 21, 2026 (Cal Bears X photo)

By Micahel Roberson

BERKELEY, Calif. — The Stanford Cardinal (16-11, 5-9 ACC) were unable to split the Battle of the Bay, after a second consecutive loss 72-66 to the California Golden Bears (19-8, 7-7 ACC).

Cal began the battle with a 5-0 run to mark their territory. Within the initial 20-minute portion of the game, Stanford never took a lead, but tied once. The Golden Bears had the lead for nearly 19 minutes. That advantage was as high as 14, and was the amount at recess, 39-25.

Stanford shot an abysmal 38% from the field and free throw line. Beyond the arc was worse (22%). Cal, on the other hand, shot 42% from 2, 40% from 3, and 88% from the charity stripe. They also grabbed 21 rebounds, while the cross-Bay visitors had 9 turnovers,

No Cardinal hooper was in double-figures, although Ebuka Okorie was close with 9 points and 8 rebounds. Cal had two players reach( that plateau, Dai Dai Ames (13) and Chris Bell (10).

In the second half, the Golden Bears were able to maintain the lead, but Stanford did reduce it as low as 5 points, but could not get over the hump. The Cardinal got the deficit into single digits several time, but untimely missed free throws and their inability to covert baskets from two or three inhibited any miracle comeback victory.

Stanford’s field goal percentage even got worse (29%) in the second half, while there was improvement from Three & Free Land. They also reduced their turnovers to a lone one in the final 20 minutes of play. Cal also shot worse in half number two, and was actually outscored by the Cardinal. However, that 8-point advantage was not enough to overcome the14-point lead at halftime.

After the whistle blew at the 40-minute mark of the game, Cal had done something they had not done in 16 years; sweep the Battle of the Bay series. Although it was a six points margin (72-66) at the horn, Cal led from wire to wire, with a single tie scenario.

The Cardinal produced four players with10+ points at the end of the game, despite not having any at halftime. Redshirt-Sophomore Aidan Cammann actually led the Cardinal in scorn, with 19 points and six rebounds. Okorie added 17 points and career high 13 rebounds. Benny Gealer chipped in 15 points with four three-pointers to boot, AJ Rohosy added 10 points and six rebounds to the Cardinal’s total.

Three Cal representatives offered double-digit scoring for their group. Senior forward and Bay Area native, Chris Bell led all players with 20 points, while fellow senior forward John Camden provided 18 points and 8 rebounds, and junior guard Dai Dai Ames put up 17 points and seven rebounds..

The Cardinal will next be in action Wednesday, February 25, back on the Farm to host the Pittsburgh Panthers at 5 PM PT on the ACC Network. Cal will remain in Berkeley, to host the Southern Methodist Mustangs on the same date at 7 PM PT on the same network.