Losing streak hits 11 as Cal rallies past Tech with big second half

The losing streak is now 11 for Georgia Tech and head coach Damon Stoudamire as the Jackets got off to a strong start and led at the half on Wednesday night vs. Cal, but they couldn’t sustain the momentum with the Bears outscoring them 44-29 in the final 20 minutes to rally for a 76-65 victory on the road at McCamish Pavilion.

Georgia Tech (11-19, 2-15 ACC) led 36-32 at the break before Cal took over in the second half, including going on a 21-6 run at one point midway through to pull away for good and keep the tough times going on The Flats.

“Now there’s the seniors, Kowacie (Reeves), Lamar (Washington, and Chas (Kelley III)…wish they could have gotten a win on senior day. But, you know, it’s kind of like the same old song after a while,” said Stoudamire. “In reverse tonight…we started the game off well. We did some good things. But because of the way the season’s been going, you don’t expect a blowout. So, you know, they’re (Cal) going to make a run. Cal’s a good team. But we managed…we got through the first half. And we took some hits, but we kept going. And, you know, to start the second half, I didn’t think we were as locked in. I thought we had some defensive errors. They started to spread our defense out a lot. We weren’t connected the same way on switches and things of that nature. It wasn’t pulled in off the ball. And so they capitalized on that. And then the biggest thing is we had ten turnovers in the second half to four assists. And I think that hurt us. And there were some live ball turnovers in that. And that was pretty much the game from there.”

Cal (21-9, 9-8 ACC) was led by Dai Dai Ames with a team-high 18 points, all of which came in the second half as he was the main catalyst behind the dominant finish to help the Bears rally for the road win in a must-have game for a team that finds itself squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble.

Lee Dort also had a strong night for Cal with 16 points and six rebounds, and John Camden finished with a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Chris Bell was the fourth Bear in double figures with 10 points. Justin Pippen contributed eight assists as well.

Georgia Tech got off to a hot start on Wednesday night, building a lead as big as 12 at 20-8 thanks in large part to the 3-point shooting of Reeves. Reeves, who was one of three players honored before the game as part of Senior Night festivities, had 19 points to lead the Jackets, all coming in the first half, and knocked down five 3-pointers.

Reeves reflected after the game on how much his time at Georgia Tech has meant to him after the Macon native transferred to The Flats three years ago following the start of his college career at Florida.

“Yeah, it was a big time, man. I appreciate the institution. I appreciate Coach for giving me another opportunity.I came here and felt like I found a new home,” said Reeves. “I feel grateful for this opportunity. I feel grateful for the times I had here socially and on the court. I love my whole Georgia Tech experience. The whole three years has been really good for me. Regardless of the basketball results, I wasn’t always my best as far as leadership could go, as far as, you know, trying to relay the messages that Coach was trying to get guys to understand. But I did my best as far as trying to lead by example and maintaining good habits. So all of those things were developed here. But like I said, I kind of have more gratitude and humility for the institution and for Coach just trusting me.. So I just appreciate it.”

The scoring pace slowed down a bit for the Jackets over the final several minutes of the first half as Cal worked itself back into the game, trailing the Jackets 36-32 at the break. Lee Dort was a big part of the Bears staying in the game with a team-high 10 points in the opening 20 minutes.

Much like Saturday vs. Florida State, Georgia Tech went through a rough stretch offensively in the middle of the second half as Cal went on a 21-6 run to build as much as a 14-point lead at 62-48 at one point.

Georgia Tech continued to battle to stay within striking distance from that point forward and even got the deficit down to six at one point at 66-60, but Cal was able to do enough down the stretch to salt the game away.

Along with Reeves’ 19 points, Akai Fleming added 16, and Jaeden Mustaf was the third Jacket in double figures with 10. Mustaf also had eight rebounds while Lamar Washington, another one of the three seniors honored on Wednesday, contributed 10 assists, eight points and eight rebounds.

Baye Ndongo chipped in with six points and eight rebounds but had seven turnovers as well.

Georgia Tech will close out the season on Saturday at Clemson with a noon tip-off scheduled. Stoudamire said he hasn’t gotten his final message to the team all thought out yet before the last game but it will mostly be about finishing this thing out the best they can.

You know, I haven’t even gotten to that point yet because it’s really weird. I’ve been in coaching. I’ve never had this happen to me…in coaching,” said Stoudamire. “So I’m not used to where we’re at. You know, the one thing, in this position, it’s a humbling position to be in if you’ve never been in that position. Like my journey is on Google. So I’ve been through a lot. And, man, I can tell you, though, nothing compared to this. What I feel right now, you know, as the coach of Georgia Tech. Nothing compares to it. I haven’t experienced this before. So it makes you understand this is what it really looks like. You know, because this is the bottom. But you’ve always got to come and you’ve got to stand up tall for your team. Because at the end of the day, if they see you waver, then they waver. And so, each and every day, you got to find a way to yourself up to come pick them up. So, the message that I have for them coming Saturday, being that it’s the last game of the season, I don’t know yet. But I’ll figure that out. We got a group of guys up in there that’s beat down right now. And what I want to do is I want to encourage, I want to nurture. And I got to get them to the finish line. That’s the goal right now.”

Cal is on the road again on Saturday at Wake Forest at 4 p.m. before opening ACC Tournament play next week in Charlotte.