Despite hitting the go-ahead basket with seven seconds remaining in regulation, the University of Redlands men's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking defeat to the Kingsmen of Cal Lutheran University on Saturday evening in Thousand Oaks, 69-71. With the loss, the Bulldogs move to .500 in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action this season.
The U of R began the game on fire, with freshman guard Sean Milligan (Portland, OR) and sophomore forward Kyle Milligan (Portland, OR) both nailing jumpers before sophomore forward Aljosa Bjekovic (Maribor, Slovenia) and senior guard Ricky Peetz (Redlands, CA) drained long-range efforts. After making its first four shots of the game, Redlands led Cal Lutheran, 10-3.
The Kingsmen made a run of their own, however, and nabbed a 15-10 lead midway through the first half. The two sides battled back-and-forth for the remainder of the first stanza, and at the break, the Bulldogs trailed by three points, 30-33.
In the second half, Redlands and Cal Lutheran both came out firing, and after Peetz hit another three-pointer, the Bulldogs trailed by just one point with just under 16 minutes remaining in regulation.
The U of R then fell behind by as many as eight points on a couple of occasions, but a pair of free throws from K. Milligan and five consecutive points from senior forward Eric Radford (Federal Way, WA) cut the deficit to just one.
Peetz then hit another big bucket later in regulation, and with 4:54 remaining, the Maroon and Gray led, 64-63.
The two SCIAC foes traded baskets down the stretch, and after the Kingsmen made one free throw with 25 seconds left, Cal Lutheran led by two points.
On the ensuing possession, Bulldog senior guard Matt Calhoun (Clackamas, OR) drove to the hoop and was fouled. After his first shot from the charity stripe rimmed out, the Bulldogs grabbed the offensive board on the second free throw miss and Radford swung the ball to Peetz on the left side. Peetz rose above the Kingsmen defender and hit the deep shot from downtown, putting the Bulldogs up by one point with seven seconds left in regulation.
Cal Lutheran, however, would have one final opportunity, and with time winding down sank a running three-point jumper to steal the lead back. With only one second left, Redlands could not recover, resulting in the disappointing two-point defeat for the Bulldogs.
Peetz led the way for the U of R with a very efficient 20 points on an 8-for-13 shooting effort, while Bjekovic tallied 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. In addition, Calhoun chipped in 10 points, while Radford provided 10 points off the bench.
The Bulldogs (7-8, 3-3 SCIAC) return to the court on Wednesday, January 22, when they take on Whittier College (9-6, 3-3 SCIAC) on the road. Tipoff in Whittier is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.