Grant Anticevich converted a Joel Brown steal into a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2:38 left in the second overtime Thursday night as California outlasted visiting Southern Utah 75-68 in a nonconference game at Berkeley, Calif.
Andre Kelly had a team-high 29 points and game-high 15 rebounds for the Golden Bears (2-2), who held Southern Utah without a field goal for the first 4:32 of the second overtime while building an eight-point lead.
John Knight III paced the Thunderbirds (1-3) with a game-high 31 points.
Anticevich’s key hoop came after he had saved the day for Cal by hitting a game-tying jumper with seven seconds remaining in the first overtime.
After Anticevich put the Golden Bears up by three in the second extra period, Kelly added two free throws and then iced Cal’s second straight win with a 3-pointer with 35 seconds left.
Anticevich finished with 15 points and Brown compiled a game-high seven assists for Cal, which won despite shooting just 39.7 percent.
Knight missed his career-best point total by three. He had 34 in the 2021 Big Sky Conference tournament against Northern Colorado.
Maizen Fausett had 14 points and Tevian Jones 11 for the Thunderbirds, who shot just 5-for-28 on 3-point attempts. Dre Marin collected a game-high nine rebounds.
Southern Utah put itself in a position to win in the first overtime when Fausett nailed a 3-pointer out of a timeout with 25 seconds remaining for a 63-61 lead.
However, Anticevich’s jumper sent the game onward.
Cal trailed by as many as 10 in the second half before rallying. The score was tied at 51, 53, 55 and one final time at 57 when Fausett converted a layup 10 seconds after Anticevich had put Cal up two with a jumper with 28 seconds to go.
The Bears had a chance to win in regulation, but Marin blocked Brown’s buzzer-beating layup, sending the game to the first overtime.
–Field Level Media
