Amani Hansberry scored 15 points and Jailen Bedford added 13 as Virginia Tech matched its win total from last season with a 78-75 win over California on Saturday in Blacksburg.
After Bedford made one of two free throws with 2.6 seconds left, the Hokes escaped with the win after Cal’s Justin Pippen missed an open 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Christian Gurdak had 12 points for Virginia Tech (13-4, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), which snapped a two-game losing skid. Neoklis Avdalas and Jaden Schutt scored 11 points apiece, and Tobi Lawal chipped in 10.
Dai Dai Ames led Cal (13-4, 1-3) with 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting. Chris Bell scored 12 points and Pippen had 11, while Lee Dort and Milos Ilic scored 10 apiece. The Golden Bears were held without a field goal for the final 3:06.
Virginia Tech used an 8-0 run to take its first lead since midway through the first half at 66-64 on Avdalas’ layup with 4:29 remaining.
The Hokies maintained the momentum and led 72-69 after Avdalas scored with 2:03 left. After Ilic made two free throws, Lawal threw down a dunk to give Virginia Tech a 74-71 lead with 1:16 to play.
Ilic made two more free throws to cut the deficit to 74-73 with 1:06 left, and Cal forced a turnover to regain possession. After a timeout, the Golden Bears missed two field goals and Hansberry made two foul shots.
Trailing by three, John Camden was fouled driving to the hoop with 8.4 seconds left and made both free throws.
Schutt and Bedford made two out of Virginia Tech’s final four free throw attempts, setting up Pippen’s 3-point shot at buzzer.
Cal battled foul trouble throughout the game and had four players with three fouls midway through the second half. Center Mantas Kocanas had four rebounds before fouling out with 8:21 left in regulation.
Dort joined Kocanas on the bench after fouling out with 4:52 left, leaving Ilic as Cal’s lone big man on the floor down the stretch.
The first half featured a pair of lengthy runs before ending with the teams tied at 37. Cal held Virginia Tech without a field goal for more than eight minutes and used a 14-0 run to move ahead 24-16 with 9:08 left.
The Hokies rallied with an 11-0 run and tied the game at intermission despite being outrebounded 19-8.
