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Cal Golden Bears dispose of Washington Huskies in final minutes, win 69-59

California’s Don Coleman, center, falls onto Washington’s Noah Dickerson, left, as Matisse Thybulle (4) watches in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017, in Berkeley, Calif. (Ben Margot / Associated Press)
Associated Press

BERKELEY, Calif. – Ivan Rabb scored 20 points with 14 rebounds and Jabari Bird added 16 points to lead California to a 69-59 win over Washington on Thursday night.

The Huskies erased a 10-point Cal lead with a quick 10-point surge early in the second half and the game was tight until the Huskies went cold in the last 4 1/2 minutes.

A layup by David Crisp at 4:35 pulled Washington within 59-57 but the Huskies didn’t score again until a layup by Noah Dickerson with 1:48 to play. That was the only UW basket in the final seven attempts.

Stephen Domingo made two free throws for the Bears and Rabb had a follow up layup and hit a jumper to make it 65-57 with 2:22 to play. After Dickerson’s bucket, Charlie Moore and Rabb each made a pair of free throws in the final minute to seal it.

The Golden Bears (12-5, 3-2 Pac 12) made 11 of 15 free throws in the second half.

Crisp led the Huskies (8-8, 1-3) with 16 points and Dickerson had 13 points and nine rebounds.

Big picture

Washington: With three conference losses already, coach Lorenzo Romar’s team is on the verge of being an afterthought in the Pac-12 title chase. … Romar remains three wins shy of 300 with the Huskies. … Leading scorer Markelle Fultz was held 10 points below his average and was limited to 12 on 3 of 15 shooting. It’s only the second time this year that Fultz has been held below 13. … Dickerson’s rebounds matched his high over the past four games.

California: The Bears continue to have problems putting teams away when they have a lead but still rode the momentum from their win over USC into a critical conference win at home that keeps them in the thick of things. … Rabb has eight double-doubles in the 15 games he’s played in this season and continues to show benefits from putting off the NBA for a year. His game is much more well-rounded and he’s stronger on the boards. … California shot just 35.9 percent in the first half and 39.1 for the game.