Cal Bears guard Jaylon Tyson (20) takes a jump shot against Ole Miss Rebels at the Hall of Fame Series at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio on Sat Dec 16, 2023 (photo by the Cal Bears)
By Barbara Mason
Saturday evening the Cal Bears (3-7) took on the unbeaten Ole Miss Rebels (10-0). At the half, the Bears trailed 46-35 but played a competitive second half losing by a single point 43-42. At half time it was the Rebels bench that had given them the lead. The Rebels got some great minutes from their starters in the second half winning the game
Saturday evening the Bears took on Ole Miss in the Hall of Fame Series in San Antonio. Cal is coming off a real disappointing loss against Butler losing in double overtime 97-90. Ole Miss had a close one in their game against UCF on the road winning 70-68.
Cal is having a tough start to the season. They have lost two games despite being double-digit favorites. This Bears team has a strong offense but getting stops has been a problem this season. Jaylon Tyson has led the Bears with close to 20 points per game. He also leads the team in assists.
Cal has a big man inside with 6’11” Fardaws Aimaq who scores over 17 points per game and has a team high ten rebounds. Jalen Cone is another good one for the Bears already having knocked down 33 triples this season and averaging 17 points per game.
Facing the unbeaten Rebels will be a tough challenge for the Golden Bears. The Rebels are led by Allen Flanigan who averages 18 points and close to seven rebounds per game.
As the first half came to an end, Ole Miss held a 46-35 lead getting some nice minutes from not only their starters but also their bench. The Bears bench got limited minutes in the first half with Jalen Celestine and Gus Larson who both did not fare very well coming away with a miss and a turnover. Cal needed more offensive production in the second half as well as more stops.
The second half was much more productive for the Bears. The Rebels edged the Bears in the second half of play 43-42 winning the game by the score of 88-78. Ole Miss had taken a 24 point lead in the second half but Cal was able to cut that lead to ten points just running out of clock. The Bears had a terrific second half of basketball but they just came up short.
Every starter for the Bears finished with double digits, the high going to Jalon Tyson with 22 points. Fardaws Aimaq had 11 points and 12 rebounds. The Rebels came on like gangbusters in the first half; the high score was Jaemyn Brakefield with 27 points a career high for him.
He hit 5 three-pointers making a huge impact in this game. The Rebels are off to their best start since the 2007-08 season. They never trailed once in this game.
Cal now returns home to Haas Pavilion taking on UC San Diego on Wednesday afternoon. Tipoff for that game is scheduled for 2:00 PM.
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