Cal upends St. Thomas (Minn.) in Madsen's first game as Golden Bears coach

Nov 7, 2023, 04:41 am

BERKELEY, Calif. -- — Devin Askew made a tie-breaking layup and Jalen Cone added two free throws with less than a minute remaining to lift California to a 71-66 win over St. Thomas (Minn.) on Monday night in Mark Madsen’s first game as head coach of the Golden Bears.

Madsen, who won NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2001 and 2002, was hired by Cal on March 29 to be the 19th head coach in the program’s history.

Jalen Celestine led the Golden Bears with 21 points. Fardaws Aimaq recorded a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Cone finished with 10 points.

Brooks Allen led the Tommies with 17 points. Drake Dobbs chipped in with 14 points, and Parker Bjorklund had 11.

Bjorklund’s layup with 2:27 remaining tied the game at 64-all, but the Tommies would not score again until Dobbs’ layup with six seconds remaining.

Askew’s layup put the Golden Bears ahead 66-64, and moments later Cone knocked down two free throws. Askew added a free throw of his own to extend the advantage to 69-64.

Following Dobbs layup, Aimaq made two free throws with five seconds left to end the scoring.

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