Dai Dai Ames scored 18 points on Wednesday night to help California earn a pivotal 76-65 victory over Georgia Tech in Atlantic Coast Conference play in Atlanta.
Lee Dort added 16 points and John Camden posted a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double for California (21-8, 9-8 ACC), which needed to avoid a catastrophic loss to preserve its NCAA Tournament hopes. Chris Bell scored 10 points and Justin Pippen had eight assists for the Golden Bears, who trailed by 12 points early.
Kowacie Reeves Jr.’s 19 points led Georgia Tech (11-19, 2-15), followed by Akai Fleming’s 16 and Jaeden Mustaf’s 10. Lamar Washington tallied eight points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for the Yellow Jackets, who dropped their 11th straight game. Georgia Tech committed 17 turnovers in its final home game this season.
California took its first lead of the night with 16:57 left, as Ames’ layup and subsequent 3-pointer gave the visitors a 41-38 edge. Camden’s 3-pointer gave the Golden Bears a 50-44 lead at the 13:02 mark.
Cal grabbed its first double-digit lead on DeJuan Campbell’s two free throws, before the margin ballooned to 14 on Ames’ 3-pointer with 8:46 remaining.
A late Georgia Tech surge sliced its deficit to six, but Ames’ layup put the Golden Bears a 72-61 lead at the 1:31 mark to seal the comeback win.
The Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 16-6 lead, with Reeves drilling his first three 3-point attempts. Cal pulled within six on Bell’s layup with 8:31 left in the opening half.
After Fleming’s three-point play gave the Yellow Jackets a 30-20 lead, Bell’s dunk stamped a 6-0 spurt to slice the deficit to four.
Reeves’ fifth trey of the first half put the Yellow Jackets ahead by seven, but Dort’s dunk trimmed the margin to a point.
Mustaf’s three-point play closed the first half, giving Georgia Tech a 36-32 halftime lead. Reeves led all scorers with 19 first-half points. Cal missed all 12 of its 3-point attempts in the first 20 minutes. Georgia Tech’s halftime lead was its first since Jan. 3 in a 65-53 home win over Boston College.
