Stanford Falls to No.13 Missouri in the Bahamas by Eric He

November 22, 2012; Anaheim, CA, USA; Drake Bulldogs guard Gary Ricks Jr. (2) guards California Golden Bears guard Tyrone Wallace (3) in the first half of game 4 of the DirecTV Classic at the Anaheim Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

The California Bears advanced to the semi-finals of the DirecTV Classic with a thrilling 73-70 win over the Drake Bulldogs at the Anaheim Convention Center.

They were once again led by the deadly duo of Justin Cobbs and Allen Crabbe, who had 21 and 15 points, respectively.

The Bears opened up a 10-point lead midway through the first half, only to see the Bulldogs battle back and even up the score at 33-33 at halftime.

Drake, who had four of their five starters score in double-digits, led by nine (64-55) with under seven minutes to play in the second half.

But Cal finished the game on an 18-6 run, fueled by Cobbs and Crabbe, who combined to score 13 of the team’s final 18 points.

The game was deadlocked at 69-69 for what seemed like an eternity late in the game, as neither team could lift the lid off the bucket. Jordan Clarke finally broke the tie for the Bulldogs with a free throw, but Cobbs responded right back with a jumper to put the Bears up by one with 1:12 to play.

Ben Simons then forced up a three-pointer that was way off the mark, leading to two free throws by Cobbs off the fastbreak. With the Bulldogs trailing by three with 17 seconds left, Simons had a great look at a three but missed once again.

The Bears hung on to win 73-70 in a game that head coach Mike Montgomery called “a pretty gutty win, and a tough one.”

Montgomery also praised his team’s effort down the stretch, saying “we played harder than we have this year. At the end of the game we probably played our most aggressive defense.” (h/t Mercury News)

Cal (4-0) will face the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the semi-finals of the DirecTV Classic on Friday night at 9:00 PM.