California defeated the Rainbow Warriors, 72-56, in a semifinal game of the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout.

A crowd of around 4,000 at Sullivan Arena watched Hawai'i drop to 3-2, and the Golden Bears improve to 4-1.

Hawai'i will play Pacific for third place today at 4:30 p.m. (Hawai'i time). Cal will play Loyola Marymount for the championship.

Ahmet Gueye led the 'Bows with 14 points. Matt Lojeski, Hawai'i's leading scorer, was limited to seven points, although he did pass for nine assists.

The 'Bows opened the game with a 4-2 lead, but Cal responded with a 14-0 run to take control at 16-4 with 14:31 remaining in the first half.

The Bears increased the lead to as many as 17 points in the first half before taking a 37-24 advantage at intermission.

Hawai'i shot just 35.5 percent from the field (11 of 31) in the first half, while Cal shot 53.6 percent (15 of 28).

Lojeski, who was averaging 18.3 points per game prior to last night, was held scoreless in the first half on 0-of-3 shooting.

The Bears increased the lead to 51-35 with 13:37 remaining in the second half, but Hawai'i chipped away behind reserves Dominic Waters and Todd Follmer.

Waters and Follmer combined to score eight points during a 14-5 surge that cut the Cal lead to 56-49 with 8:03 remaining.

But that was as close as it would get as the Bears responded with a 14-2 run to pull away.