Field Level Media
Dec 16, 2018
Paris Austin buried a jumper with three seconds left Saturday night, allowing California to survive a frantic finish and defeat Cal Poly 67-66 in Berkeley, Calif.
Austin's heroics allowed the Golden Bears (4-5) to win a second straight and overcome a 26-point night from the Mustangs' Donovan Fields.
A see-saw finish had five lead changes in the final 1:47, including one created by Fields' jumper with 16 seconds left that put Cal Poly (3-6) up 66-65 and set up Austin's game-winner.
Cal led by as many as eight in the first half and 32-29 before Cal Poly reversed things early in the second half.
Fields, Daxton Carr and Marcellus Garrick all hit 3-pointers as the Mustangs opened the second half on a 15-6 run that opened a 44-38 lead at the 14:12 mark.
Austin dropped in a layup with 13:01 left to get Cal headed back in the right direction, and the Bears went on to lead by as many as five before Cal Poly caught up again and created the tight finish.
Justice Sueing had team-highs for Cal with 15 points and seven rebounds.
Matt Bradley added 11 points, while Austin and Darius McNeill finished with 10 apiece for the Bears, who were coming off an 89-83 win over San Diego State.
Fields hit four of his 10 3-point attempts, helping Cal Poly outscore Cal 30-15 from beyond the arc.
Mark Crowe had 11 points for the Mustangs, while Hank Hollingsworth pulled down a game-high eight rebounds to complement six points.
The loss was Cal Poly's third straight against Pacific-12 Conference competition this non-conference season, having already been beaten by Arizona and Washington State.
The Mustangs also played Cal tough on the road last year, losing 85-82.
--Field Level Media