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Thomas' late basket lifts UNLV over Cal

Dec 10, 2012 - 6:41 AM Berkeley, CA (Sports Network) - Quintrell Thomas made the game-winning basket with 1.2 seconds on the clock, as No. 21 UNLV escaped Haas Pavilion with a 76-75 victory over California in an exciting non-conference battle.

The lead changed hands three times in the final 29 seconds, with two Justin Cobbs free throws giving the Golden Bears a 75-74 lead with 11.4 seconds left.

UNLV's Anthony Marshall then dribbled down the court and threw up a contested shot from the foul line that fell well short. But Thomas fought for the airball between two defenders and laid one in while being fouled with just over a second to play.

Thomas missed the free throw intentionally, and Cal was unable to get off a quality shot to clinch the Runnin' Rebels' fifth straight win.

The outcome came at a cost for UNLV (7-1), which lost its leading rebounder and second-leading scorer Mike Moser to a dislocated elbow early on.

"It's not good but specifically what that means now I don't know but I suspect that we'll be playing without him for some time," said UNLV coach Dave Rice.

Anthony Bennett continued his fantastic freshman campaign with 25 points and 13 rebounds, while Bryce Dejean-Jones, less than a week after going 0-for-9 from the floor in a win at Portland, netted 22 points for the victors.

Allen Crabbe scored 18 points to lead the Golden Bears (6-2), who have lost two straight following a 6-0 start.

The Rebels played front-runner the entire second half until Cal put together a late 10-2 run to go ahead, 70-68, on Tyrone Wallace's inside bucket.

After Marshall missed the front end of a 1-and-1, Wallace was off the mark on a stepback jumper, and Bennett sank two from the stripe for a tie game with 1:36 on the clock.

Bennett then answered a Robert Thurman basket with a thunderous dunk from the baseline. Dejean-Jones committed his fifth foul with 38.9 ticks left as Crabbe went up for a shot. Crabbe made 1-of-2 from the line, and Bennett's mid-range jumper gave the Rebels the lead before Cobbs' go-ahead free throws.

Cal shot 65 percent (17-of-26) from the field in the first half, but committed nine turnovers and connected on just 2-of-8 from the foul line.

UNLV made 17 trips to the stripe in the opening 20 minutes, making 13, and got Cal's leading scorer in foul trouble, as Crabbe was forced to sit out the final six-plus minutes of the half after committing his third foul.

With Crabbe on the bench, Bennett took over and helped UNLV take a 45-38 lead at the break by scoring nine of the Runnin' Rebels' final 16 points, a stretch that began with a dunk on a give-and-go feed with Savon Goodman.

Game Notes

Cal shot 54 percent (15-of-28) from the foul line and 53 percent (28-of-53) from the floor ... Richard Solomon and Wallace totaled 14 and 13 points, respectively for the Bears, who fell to 4-10 against nationally-ranked teams under head coach Mike Montgomery ... Marshall scored all 13 of his points in the first half.