After leading by six points at the half, the University of Redlands men’s basketball team pulled away during the second period to grab its first Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) win of the season, defeating the Leopards of the University of La Verne (5-10, 1-3 SCIAC) by a score of 76-59.

The Bulldogs gained a career-high 15 points from junior guard Breck Mahoney (Chicago, IL), who knocked down 4-of-5 from long range to go along with 3-for-4 shooting at the charity stripe, in only 20 minutes of action.

Redlands opened the game with an early lead but La Verne fought back to go ahead by two points with 15:10 remaining in the first half. However, a jump shot by sophomore center Andrew Mills (Newcastle, WA) put the Bulldogs up by two and created a lead that they would never relinquish.

In addition to Mahoney, the Bulldogs looked to senior guard Patrick Coffey (San Carlos, CA) and sophomore forward Matt Dietrich (Phoenix, AZ) to score in double figures. Coffey shot 60% from the floor for 19 points and tallied four steals and three assists. Dietrich chipped in20 points, including a perfect 9-for-9 from the line, while contributing eight rebounds.

The Bulldogs (5-10, 1-3 SCIAC) head to Cal Lutheran on Saturday for a conference doubleheader with the women, who tip off at 5 p.m. The men’s game follows at 7:30 p.m.