Cal falls after erasing 15-point deficit

(01-21) 04:00 PST Los Angeles -- As Mike Montgomery is fond of saying, there is no quit in this Cal basketball team.

That was never more apparent than Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion against UCLA.

The Bears fought back from a 15-point deficit with nine minutes left (65-50) and from eight down with a minute to go (79-71) to tie the game at 84-84 on freshman Allen Crabbe's three-point shot at 10.8, only to lose 86-84 on forward Reeves Nelson's follow tip with 2.2 seconds remaining.

"We did a good job at the end of fighting back," said forward Harper Kamp, who led Cal with 21 points. "There's a million plays throughout the game that could have put us ahead. I think the biggest thing we take away is we've got to fight like we're down the entire game. We have to learn to play with that kind of energy for 40 minutes."

The frustrating defeat dropped the Bears to .500 at 9-9 and left them even further behind in the Pac-10 Conference at 2-4 heading into Saturday night's game at USC. The Bruins are 12-6 and 4-2.

Many blase Bruins fans had departed when the game got really interesting with 1 minute to go and the home team up 79-71.

A furious Cal rally in the final 60 seconds featured a dunk by freshman Richard Solomon, a forced five-second violation on UCLA and a bank shot by Crabbe, another dunk by Solomon, a Crabbe jumper followed by two free throws from the Los Angeles native and finally the team's only successful three-point shot of the game with 10 seconds left for 84-84.

"Jorge (Gutierrez) was telling me to get ready to shoot it," Crabbe said. "My teammates showed confidence in me. My teammates set a screen. I had a clear look and when it left my hand I knew it was good."

Unfortunately for the Bears, a missed UCLA shot was put back in for the winning basket by the ubiquitous Nelson, a Modesto native who tormented Cal with 24 points, 10 rebounds and two steals.

It's possible to suggest UCLA won this game behind the three-point line as its marksmen converted 10 of 24 shots for 30 points to a mere three for Cal on Crabbe's game-tying shot.

Besides Kamp's 21 points, Crabbe had 17, Gutierrez 15 and Solomon 12. UCLA out-rebounded Cal by 35-26.

As poorly as the Bears played in the first half, they were fortunate to be trailing by only six points at the break, 41-35, after falling behind by 11 at 36-25 with 4:17 to go on a play that typified Cal's first 20 minutes.

A lame pass by Cal's Nigel Carter was stolen by Nelson, who went in for the layup and was fouled by Kamp. He made the free throw, and UCLA appeared on the verge of breaking away.

But a mini-surge by the Bears brought them to within 36-34 after two baskets by Kamp and a three-point play by Solomon, who dunked and was fouled at 2:38.

A three-point shot by UCLA's Malcolm Lee and a steal and layup by Nelson enabled the Bruins to leave the court at halftime up by six.

E-mail John Crumpacker at jcrumpacker@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page B - 4 of the San Francisco Chronicle