During a showdown between the two first-place teams in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), the University of Redlands and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges battled it out in fine fashion in front of an excited Currier Gym crowd on Wednesday night. Despite clawing their way back into the game to force overtime, the Bulldogs came up short in the extra period and suffered a difficult 89-97 loss.

During the first half, Redlands jumped out to an early lead, making it a seven-point game with 9:45 remaining in the half.

However, CMS hit back-to-back three-pointers, followed by a lay-up, to quickly take its first lead of the game at 26-25 just over two minutes later.

The Stags eventually made it an eight-point game, but the Bulldogs enjoyed an 8-2 run to finish out the half down by just two points at 36-38.

The second half saw a hot-shooting CMS squad take advantage of three-pointers and free-throws, resulting in a 12-point advantage midway through the period.

Nonetheless, the Bulldogs mustered an impressive comeback that solidified in the final minutes. Down by six at 73-79 with 1:09 to play, Redlands gained a lay-up from freshman Tristan Kirk (Redlands, CA) to move within four.

Forced to foul, the Maroon and Gray sent the Stags to the line but they converted only one of two, keeping the game within reach for the Bulldogs.

With 36 seconds left, senior guard Pat Coffey (San Carlos, CA) nailed a three-pointer to cut the lead to two at 78-80.

Redlands fouled again and again CMS only sank one to make it a three-point game with 24 seconds left on the clock.

On the ensuing possession, the Bulldogs moved the ball down the court and then Coffey found junior forward Matt Dietrich (Phoenix, AZ), who nailed a three-pointer to tie the game at 81 with 14 seconds left.

As the crowd went wild, Redlands called a quick timeout.

On its next possession, CMS was called for traveling with 2.1 seconds left, causing an eruption of cheers from the fans.

Following another timeout, Redlands attempted a tricky inbounds play but failed to convert the winning basket, resulting in overtime.

Unfortunately, this was when the Bulldogs’ luck ran out, as the Stags took a three-point lead off of the opening shot and never looked back.

Redlands attempted a second comeback but came up short with CMS going 9-for-14 form the line in overtime, which was just enough to keep the Bulldogs at bay.

Redlands (10-9, 6-2 SCIAC) gained a team-leading 20 points from Kirk, who shot 7-for-9 from the field, including 3-for-4 from long range. Coffey supplied 19 points and five assists. Junior guard Justin Sobczyk (Palm Desert, CA) chipped in 12 points, while Dietrich added 11 points and eight rebounds.

CMS (15-4, 7-1 SCIAC) won the battle of the boards with a 42 to 33 showing. Junior forward Chris Blees (Carmichael, CA) provided a game-leading 26 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Junior guard Shane Davis (Vashon, WA) came off the bench for 17 points and senior forward Michael Bagby (Coupeville, WA) posted 16. Junior center Patrick Lacey (Orangevale, CA) rounded out the double-digit performers with 14 points.

Both team shot well overall, as the Bulldogs hit 46.0% of their shots and the Stags converted 47.6%. The difference came at the line, where CMS converted 31 of its 48 chances. Redlands only had 31 opportunities but made 22 of them for a 71.0% performance.

The Bulldog men tip off against Caltech at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night as part of a conference doubleheader with the women, who play at 5 p.m., in Currier Gym.