It came down to the wire, but the University of Redlands men's basketball team outlasted Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, 82-80, on the road to pick up its seventh consecutive win in Wednesday night's Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) tilt.
Freshman forward Griffin Barker (Kirkland, WA) started the game off with a 6-0 solo run, draining in a three-pointer before stealing the ball away and drawing a foul on the fastbreak. He finished his shot at the charity stripe to round it up to three and give Redlands the quick 6-0 lead.
CMS responded back and the upper hand changed back-and-forth six times before the Stags could create some distance.
The Bulldogs kept battling and senior guard Hass Berry (Riverside, CA) tied the score at 37-37 with just under two minutes left before halftime. The Stags once again had a response and walked into the break with a 44-39 upper hand.
Redlands found itself in a 14-point hole five minutes into the second half, but turned things around. The Bulldogs went on an 11-2 run to pull within five points, knocking down back-to-back triples to fuel the spree.
Junior guard Jack Roggin (Toluca Lake, CA) tied the game up at 60-60 after rattling in a shot from beyond the arc and hit another three-pointer to give the Bulldogs the lead, 63-62.
The Bulldogs headed down the stretch holding a narrow one-point upper hand, 74-73, determined to not let the game get away.
With 10 seconds remaining, CMS drew a foul but missed the first free throw. The Stags hit the second to pull within one point, but Redlands called a timeout. Junior forward Parker Landolf (Alamo, CA) drew a foul and hit one of his free throws, but it only gave the Bulldogs a two-point cushion.
The Stags tried to hit the game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer, but the shot was just off target to give Redlands the 82-80 victory.
Three Bulldogs finished the night in double-figures, led by Barker's 23-point performance. Roggin chipped in 14 points, while Berry added another 13 points.
Redlands (17-6, 10-4 SCIAC) is back in action on Saturday, February 22, heading to Whittier College for a 5 p.m. tip-off.