Celestine's 3 late free throws lift California past Stanford, 73-71

Jan 27, 2024, 11:46 am

BERKELEY, Calif. -- — Jalen Celestine hit 3 of 4 free throws in the final minute to lift California to a 73-71 win over Stanford on Friday night.

The victory made first-year Cal coach Mark Madsen, a former Stanford standout, a winner over his alma mater in his first game facing the Cardinal. Stanford coach, Jarod Haase played at Cal as a freshman before transferring to Kansas.

Stanford built a 10-point lead on Kanaan Carlyle ‘s jumper four minutes into the second half made it 50-40, but the Golden Bears answered with a 10-0 run fueled by a pair of Jaylon Tyson jumpers and tied the game with 12:43 left on a Jalen Cone jumper.

Stanford answered with a 7-0 run on two Andrej Stojakovic layups and a Jared Bynum 3. Fardaws Amaq’s jumper with 7:13 left put Cal up, 62-60 but Spencer Jones tied again with two free throws at the five-minute mark. Tyson injured his leg when he landed after taking a missed 3-pointer and did not return, but the Bears tied the game on a pair of free throws from Aimaq with 2:53 left and Celestine hit a jumper to make it 70-68.

Brandon Angel hit two free throws with 1:10 left to put Stanford up for the final time, 71-70. Celestine hit two free throws with :58 seconds left and added the second of two free throws with seven seconds left to set the final margin.

Six players reached double-figure scoring for Cal (9-12, 4-5 Pac-12 Conference). Tyson finished with 14 points, seven under his 21-points-per-game average. Aimaq had 13 points and 12 rebounds and Celestine hit 4 of 5 from the line and finished with 12 points. Keonte Kennedy and Newell each added 11 points and Cone chipped n 10 points by hitting 8 of 9 from the line.

Jones led Stanford 10-9, 5-4) with 13 points. Angel and Carlyle each scored 12 and Maxime Raynaud added 11.

California travels to face No. 9 Arizona Thursday. Stanford travels to face Arizona State Thursday.

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