The University of Redlands men’s basketball team took to the road for the official opening games of the 2008-09 season and competed at the Kean University Classic in Union, N.J. The Bulldogs fell to New York University in the first game by a score of 60-69 and then suffered a one-point loss to Division II foe Clarion University (PA), 65-66.

Against NYU, Redlands looked to the impressive play of sophomore forward Matt Dietrich (Phoenix, AZ) to post a game-high 27 points. He went 11-for-16 from the floor, including two three-pointers. Sophomore guard Kent Ervin (Bend, OR) and freshman forward Alex Wolpe (Redlands, CA) added 11 points each.

In their second game, the Bulldogs battled to the very end but came up short against Clarion. Despite senior forward Travis Miller’s (Coto de Caza, CA) seven consecutive points for Redlands, the Golden Eagles sank two needed free throws in the final second to secure the victory. Miller finished with nine points while Dietrich led the team with 16 points. Sophomore guard Patrick Keating (Fountain Hill, AZ) tossed in 10 points as junior guard Breck Mahoney (Chicago, IL) added nine.

For his outstanding play, Dietrich landed on the All-Tournament team.

The Bulldogs (0-2) look forward to hosting Carthage College (WI) in a non-conference game on Saturday at 2 p.m.