Pacific 10 Roundup : Sandle Hits Key Shot as Sun Devils Edge Bears, 69-67

Chris Sandle scored 15 points, including a pivotal jumper with 1:10 remaining, as Arizona State rallied to beat California, 69-67, in a Pacific 10 Conference basketball game Thursday night at Tempe, Ariz.

The Sun Devils, down 58-50 with 6:24 left, got two three-point plays from Eric Holloway--who had all of his 14 points in the second half--and took the lead for good at 64-63 on Sandle’s jumper.

Mark Carlino’s steal and layup with 28 seconds left put Arizona State up, 66-63, before Cal’s Jeff Huling brought the Bears within one at 66-65 on a tip-in with 15 seconds to go.

Arthur Thomas’ free throw with 12 seconds left gave the Sun Devils a 67-65 lead, but Huling blew a chance to tie it on free throws with 11 seconds to go.

Thomas’ two fouls shots with seven seconds left then offset a jumper by Cal’s Kevin Johnson.

The win snapped the Sun Devils’ four-game losing streak and improved their record to 7-5 overall (7-0 at home) and 1-1 in Pac-10 play.

Cal, 10-3 overall and 2-1 in the conference, hasn’t won here since 1978 and had its three-game winning streak snapped while losing for the seventh straight time to Arizona State.

Johnson had 20 point--12 in the first half when the Bears led, 31-25. Dave Butler added 15 and Chris Washington 12 for Cal.

Arizona 77, Stanford 69--Steve Kerr scored a career-high 24 points, and Sean Elliott added 20 as the Wildcats held on to beat the Cardinal at Tucson.

John Edgar gave the Wildcats an 11-point lead at 72-61 on two free throws with 1:59 remaining.

But Stanford’s Terry Taylor scored six straight points while Arizona missed the front end of two one-and-one situations, allowing the Cardinal to close the gap to 72-67 with 1:22 left.

Elliott then sank two foul shots for a 74-67 lead with 1:05 left, and the Wildcats held on from there to improve their record to 10-4 overall and 2-0 in Pac-10 play.

Stanford fell to 7-8 overall and 1-2 in the conference despite 19 points from Todd Lichti. Earl Koberlein added 15, Taylor 14 and Greg Butler 12.

Edgar finished with 14 points for Arizona, and Craig McMillan added 12.