The University of Redlands men's basketball team traveled to Pasadena on Monday to take on the Caltech Beavers in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) contest. Amidst a night full of shooting woes, the Bulldogs came up short by a score of 41-46.
Caltech came out firing from beyond the arc to snag an early 6-1 lead by the 16:36-mark.
The Beavers successfully extended the lead to seven points late in the first half, before Bulldog sophomore guard Kyle Husslein's (Tamuning, Guam) lay-up made it a 16-21 game with 57 seconds left on the first-half clock.
After three quick points by the Beavers to start the second stanza, the Bulldogs answered with their first of only two three-pointers in the game, as senior forward Al Bjekovic (Maribor, Slovenia) sank a shot from long range with 15:33. Senior center Kyle Milligan's (Portland, OR) stellar defense resulted in a steal on Caltech's ensuing possession, setting up Bjekovic's jumper to make it three-point game at 21-24.
However, the Beavers responded with consecutive baskets for another seven-point advantage.
This trend continued, as Redlands cut the deficit to three on more than one occasion, before Caltech answered with a short run to stay in front.
Following a three-minute scoring drought by both teams, freshman forward Trevor Brown (San Mateo, CA) put in a lay-up for the Bulldogs to make it 32-35 with 2:49 to go in the game.
Unfortunately for Redlands, Caltech made it way to the charity stripe and converted nine of 12 attempts in the final two minutes, providing just enough of an edge for the Beavers' win.
After sitting out the game on January 2, Bjekovic returned to action with an 11-point, eight-rebound, and two-block performance. Husslein and junior guard Sean Milligan (Portland, OR) each chipped in seven points in the loss.
The Bulldogs shot just 28.6% from the field and 12.5% from long range. The Beavers converted 11 of their 44 shots for a 25% showing while going 3-for-13 from beyond the arc.
Redlands (4-7, 0-2 SCIAC) strives to get back on track when it travels to Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Saturday, January 9, for a 2 p.m. tip-off against the Sagehens.