Chris Bell bombed in five 3-pointers to account for a majority of his game-high 22 points, Dai Dai Ames saved six of his 14 points for the final 1:24 and Cal captured the championship of the Empire Classic with an 80-72 upset of 18th-ranked UCLA in San Francisco on Tuesday night.
In a matchup of former Pacific-12 Conference rivals, a 3-pointer by Ames gave the Golden Bears (6-1) a 69-56 lead with 7:07 remaining before UCLA (5-2) rallied in the neutral-site contest played across the San Francisco Bay from the Cal campus in Berkeley.
Jamar Brown had a 3-pointer and a three-point play in a 13-4 burst that got the Bruins within 73-69 with still 3:19 to play.
But Ames took over from there, dropping in two free throws to stall the UCLA run, then adding a 3-pointer and a short jumper that put the Golden Bears back in control at 80-70 with just 34 seconds left.
Rytis Petraitis came off the bench to also play a key role in the win, chipping in with 12 points while also finding time for a team-high seven rebounds.
Justin Pippen finished with 13 points to go with three rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block for Cal, which swept Cal State Bakersfield, Sacramento State and UCLA to claim the crown in the round-robin event.
The first two rounds of the tournament were held on the Cal and UCLA campuses.
Bell’s five 3-pointers came on just seven attempts. Cal shot 11-for-22 from beyond the arc while outscoring the Bruins 33-21 from deep.
Trent Perry had 19 points and Eric Dailey Jr. 17 to pace UCLA, which has moved on to the Big Ten Conference while Cal has gotten a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Dailey led the Bruins with seven rebounds.
Donovan Dent had a game-high seven assists to complement four rebounds, three points, a steal and a block for the Bruins, whose only other loss this season was to another former Pac-12 foe, Arizona.
The Bruins were held to 40.6% shooting overall and 31.8% on 3-pointers.
