California Golden Bear guard (#25) Nojus Indrusaitis dribbles his way inside the paint against the Radford Highlanders in an NCAA non-conference basketball game at the Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, California, on Wednesday, November 4th, 2026. (Photo credit: Michael Villanueva)
By Michael Villanueva
BERKELEY – On Wednesday night, two days after their season-opening win, the California Golden Bears (2-0) returned to Haas Pavilion to host the Radford Highlanders (0-2). In the Bears’ Monday win, they shot 11-of-23 from the three-point range. In tonight’s game with Radford, the Bears shot 17-of-35 from three-pointer’s, almost 50% (49%), and with that shooting would get their second win of the season, 84-70, California wins.
On Monday night, Radford made their first stop on their two-game West Coast trip at the University of San Francisco. USF would go on to defeat Radford, 76-62, handing the Radfords their first loss in their first game of the season. Their head coach, Zach Chu, would send the same guys as the starters. With Frederik Erichsen, Mathieu Grujicic, Tristan Gross, Gabriel Ferreira, and Ja’Corey Robinson as the starters. Erichsen led the team in their loss with 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 1 assist.
The Bears are still without their returning and former starting forward, Lee Dort, due to ankle complications. California went with the same lineup from Monday’s evening win over Adams State with Jordan Ross, Mantas Kocanas, Jake Wilkins, Sammie Yeanay, and Nojus Indrusaitis. Five players from Cal would score double-digit points in the team’s win on Monday. The Bears were also missing their head coach, Mark Madsen, due to a family emergency.
Getting the first bucket of the night would be Cal’s Jake Wilkins with a three-pointer to get the fans in the Pavilion on their feet. However, Radford would go on a 6-0 scoring run in the first two minutes of the game and get an early lead, 8-5. The Bears responded by making three three-pointers in a row. This gave the Bears an early seven-point lead, 17-10.
The Bears’ defense made it hard for the Highlanders to get their three-point shooting going, but Radford wasn’t gonna let up. Head coach Zach Chu had his team attack the paint. By the end of the first half, Radford scored 24 points in the paint while Cal was only able to get 8 points. Cal would end the first half on a 5-0 scoring run, having a total of seven scoring runs just in the first half.
Halftime, California leads over Radford, 45-37. Bears Nojus Indrusaitis leads the team so far with 12 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist. The Bears’ shooting has been the main reason why they’re holding the lead. They’re shooting 9-of-17 from three-point range, and their defense is holding Radford’s deep ball shooting at 4-of-13. Although Radford’s aggressiveness has been their reason, they’re still within grasp. The Highlanders have scored 24 points in the paint, while California has scored 8 points in the paint.
To start the second half of the game, Nojus Indrusaitis, by himself, would go on a 7-0 scoring run. His early efforts changed the Bears’ lead to 8 points, 52-44. Although Radford would get a strong scoring run of a 7-0, and cut the lead to just one point, 52-51. Bears Jake Wilkins would slam a dunk on a fast-break transition and get the team ready to take over.
Middle of the 2nd half in the game, Cal’s last four offensive possession would all be made three-pointers. The Bears were feeling golden, as they went on a 12-2 scoring run for almost three minutes. This run would push the lead to 13 points, 71-58, and start to discourage Radford after getting the score within one point.
Applying more pressure on Radford, Cal from the nine-minute mark to the three-minute mark of the second half made 6 of 8 three-pointers. Cal’s Michael Cooper made three of those, and Nojus Indrusaitis made two of them in that span. Setting the score up to 79-62, Cal leads. With time running down and Radford desperately shooting shots, Cal wouldn’t allow any comebacks, especially in their “Haas”.
The final score of the game was 84-70. California was led in this win by Nojus Indrusaitis with a new career high at 30 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists. Coming off the bench with 16 points, 4-of-8 from the three-point line, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists, and proving to be a factor for the Bears’ offense was Michael Cooper.
Next, the Golden Bears are heading to “The Big Blue”. California’s basketball program is playing in the Caesars Lake Tahoe Classic on November 8th. The Caesars Lake Tahoe Classic will feature 3 Men’s games and 1 Women’s game. California men’s basketball will play, and it’s their first meeting with the Houston Cougars since 1999 at 5:30 p.m. Cal women’s basketball also is competing at the Classic, playing San Francisco in the event’s opening game at 11 a.m.
