Cal’s 2025-26 season concluded on Sunday night with a painful defeat. The Bears squandered a 19-point, second-half lead, falling to Saint Joseph’s 76-75 in the National Invitation Tournament.
The second-round game, held at Haas Pavilion, saw Cal’s record drop to 22-12. Saint Joseph’s, now 24-11, have won nine of their past 10 games.
Bears’ Big Lead Evaporates
Cal held a commanding 55-36 lead with just over 15 minutes remaining. However, they were unable to maintain their advantage.
The Bears’ final chance came after rebounding a Saint Joseph’s miss with seven seconds left. Dai Dai Ames initiated a fast break, but his off-balance layup was blocked by Jaiden Glover-Toscano as the buzzer sounded.
Cal expanded an eight-point halftime lead to 14 points early in the second half. Saint Joseph’s Dasear Haskins missed a breakaway dunk, and Dai Dai Ames followed with a three-pointer to extend Cal’s lead to 15 points at 50-35. Another bucket by Ames increased the Bears’ lead to 17 points with 16:01 left in the second half. Cal then increased its lead to 19 with 15:24 to go before Saint Josph’s launched its comeback bid.
Hawks Complete Comeback
Saint Joseph’s managed to cut the margin to four points at 72-68 with 4:11 remaining. Derek Simpson then hit a three-point shot with 1:51 left, giving Saint Joseph’s a one-point lead.
Cal had started the game slowly, making only one of its first seven shots. This contributed to Saint Joseph’s taking an early 12-5 lead. However, Cal controlled play for the remainder of the first half, leading 41-33 at the break. A Dai Dai Ames 12-foot shot at the first-half buzzer gave Cal is largest lead of the first half at eight points.
Individual Performances
Chris Bell tried to compensate for the absence of John Camden, who was sidelined with an injury. Nolan Dorsey replaced Camden in the starting lineup. Bell scored 23 points, going 5-for-12 from beyond the arc. He had been 7-for-8 on three-pointers in Wednesday’s victory. He missed his first four three-point shots of the game, but kept shooting and made five of his next six shots from distance.
Pippen was Cal’s top scorer in the first half with just seven points, while Jaiden Glover-Toscano had 11 for the Hawks.
What’s Next for Saint Joseph’s
Saint Joseph’s will now advance to play New Mexico in an NIT quarterfinal game. The game will be on Tuesday or Wednesday. New Mexico defeated George Washington 86-61 in their second-round game on Sunday.
Cal had just four turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
Cal were 5.5-point favourites, according to FanDuel and DraftKings. ESPN Analytics gave Cal a 78.2 percent chance of winning the game.