Bell scores 20 and Cal bests Stanford 72-66 for regular-season sweep

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Chris Bell poured in 20 points to lead Cal past Stanford 72-66 on Saturday.

Bell was 5-of-11 shooting and 7 of 7 at the free-throw line to go with seven rebounds and two steals for the Golden Bears (19-8, 7-7 Atlantic Coast Conference). John Camden notched 18 points and eight rebounds, while Dai Dai Ames had 17 points and seven rebounds.

The win makes it a regular-season sweep for the first time since 2009-10 for the Golden Bears, who are coached by Stanford alum Mark Madsen. Before this season, the Golden Bears had lost five in a row to Stanford.

Ebuka Okorie continued a stellar freshman season for the Cardinal (16-11, 5-9), scoring 17 points and tallying 13 rebounds for the first double-double, and double-digit rebounding performance of his career. He’d never secured more than seven rebounds in a game prior to Saturday. Okorie entered the game averaging 22.5 points per game, the sixth-best average in the country.

Stanford’s Aidan Cammann scored 19 points, along with six rebounds and two blocks, but was 11 of 19 at the free-throw line. Benny Gealer scored 15 points, and AJ Rohosy had 10 to go with six rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

The Cardinal mounted a 7-0 run inside the final 1:14, using a turnover from Justin Pippen and a foul from Ames to set up three free throws for Gealer. A turnover from Ames set up a layup for Cammann to make it 71-66 with 29 seconds to go.

A free throw from Camden with 24 seconds and missed 3-pointers from Gealer and Okorie sealed the result.

Cal built a 39-25 halftime lead after a 12-1 run with five points from Bell.

Up next

Stanford will host Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

Cal will host SMU on Wednesday.

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