Grant Anticevich led four California players in double figures with a game-high 17 points Monday night as the Golden Bears used balanced scoring to record their first victory of the season, a 75-70 triumph over visiting San Diego in Berkeley, Calif.
Jordan Shepherd had 14 points, Andre Kelly 13 and Joel Brown 12 for Cal (1-2), which had fallen to UC San Diego and UNLV in its first two games.
Jase Townsend scored 16 points and Joey Calcaterra had 15 for the Toreros (2-1).
Cal trailed 43-38 after a Marcellus Earlington 3-pointer before dominating the final 16 1/2 minutes of the game.
Anticevich ignited the comeback with a 3-pointer, then made two free throws to produce the game’s final tie at 43-all with 13:44 left.
A Kelly block led to a Makale Foreman 3-pointer 20 seconds later, and Cal never trailed again, going up by as many as 10.
A Terrell Brown hoop allowed San Diego to get as close as 70-66 with still 40 seconds left, but Shepherd snuck behind the Toreros’ defense for a layup and Anticevich dropped in a pair of free throws to keep the visitors at arm’s length.
Anticevich shot 3-for-3 on 3-point attempts as Cal was red-hot from beyond the arc, going 10-for-15. Brown and Kuany Kuany each went 2-for-2 from long distance.
Cal got 62 of its 75 points from its starters. Foreman was the only major producer off the bench with eight points.
Terrell Brown scored 11 and Bryce Monroe had 10 for the Toreros, who had won 72-67 on their most recent visit to Berkeley in 2007.
San Diego lost despite shooting 9-for-16 on 3-point attempts. The Toreros also outrebounded the Bears 38-31.
Cal outshot the visitors 50.0 percent to 40.7 percent overall.
–Field Level Media