Justin Pippen scored a career-high 24 points to lead five California players in double figures as the Golden Bears rallied from a three-point halftime deficit to beat Division II Dominican 93-71 on Tuesday in Berkeley.
John Camden had 18 points, Dai Dai Ames scored 14 and Chris Bell added 11 for the Bears, who at 9-1 are off to their best start since 2014-15. Semetri Carr had career highs with 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
The Bears overcame a slow start and scored 65 points in the second half to topple Dominican (5-2), which was picked to finish 11th in the Pacific West Conference preseason coaches’ poll.
Nick Medeiros led the Penguins with 16 points and nine assists. Michael Wilson scored 10 points, while Sargent Jeffery, Jorge Ochoa and Darius Best each scored nine points.
Cal shot 66.7% from the field and 63.6% (7 of 11) from 3-point range in the second half.
Dominican sprinted to a 22-11 lead in the first half before Cal settled in and moved ahead 28-26 on Carr’s two foul shots with 1:29 left.
Wilson followed with a 3-pointer and Medeiros turned a steal into a layup to give the Penguins a 31-28 advantage at intermission.
Medeiros scored 10 points in the first half for Dominican, which held Cal to 18.4% shooting in the first 20 minutes, including 6.3% (1 of 16) from 3-point range.
Pippen scored five quick points to begin the second half and the Bears moved ahead 61-53 on Ames’ layup with 10:38 remaining.
Ames converted a three-point play with 8:50 left to give Cal its first double-digit lead of the game at 68-58.
Cal maintained control and led 81-65 after Ames scored with 4:31 remaining. The Bears held Dominican without a field goal in the final 4:13 and improved to 8-0 at Haas Pavilion.
Pippen was 9 of 9 from the foul line and had four steals for the Bears, whose only loss came in a 99-96 road defeat to Kansas State on Nov. 13.
–Field Level Media
