The University of Redlands men's basketball team headed to Cal Lutheran University on Saturday afternoon for an exhibition match against the Kingsmen. Fueled by first-year guard Neil Owens' (Pasadena, CA) team-leading 33-points, Redlands battled through a very evenly matched 40 minutes that ended in an 84-84 tie at the end of regulation. The teams featured similar stat sheets but the Bulldogs held steadfast through the final whistle with a positive outcome, 98-97.
Although the Kingsmen built a quick lead in the first three minutes of action, first-year guard Josh Himel (Jacksonville, FL) awakened the Bulldog offense by draining a three-pointer before snagging an offensive board. He quickly found first-year guard Justice Marmara (Grand Prairie, TX) for the layup amd completed this spurt by swiping a steal that Owens turned into three points to put Redlands up 8-7.
With Redlands holding a slight lead, the teams matched each other point-for-point, as the Kingsmen always managed to stay within just a few points. Redlands attempted to spread the score, beginning with a Marmara layup at 9:46 to make it 16-13. The Maroon and Gray followed that with a 23-15 run over the next seven minutes for their biggest lead of the night at 39-28. The Bulldogs showed off their fast, full-court game, which featured three steals and five trey-balls from four different players, with first-year guard Sam Abere (Lake Oswego, OR) owning two of them. Abere sunk a free-throw at 2:36 to cap the Bulldogs' offensive burst.
However, the Kingsmen got hot over the final minutes to close the gap and enter the midway break with the Bulldogs holding a slight 39-36 advantage.
Marmara made his presence known at the beginning of the second with two layups and a steal in the first 50 seconds of action.
Although Cal Lutheran built its biggest lead of the night over the ensuing 13 minutes, Owens nearly single-handedly kept the Bulldogs in the game with 15 of Redlands' 24 points in that timeframe. However, the Kingsmen's shots were also falling in to put the Bulldogs in a 67-77 hole with only 3:44 left in regulation.
Nonetheless, the Maroon and Gray slowly but surely chipped away at the deficit with key buckets from Marmara and Abere. In addition, Himel hit an impressive shot from beyond the arc before Owens sank another from the charity stripe to pull within one, 81-82, with 1:19 left.
Following a missed opportunity from Cal Lutheran, Himel stepped back for another crucial three-pointer to tie the game at 84-apiece, eventually sending the game into overtime.
The teams traded scores in the first couple of minutes until first-year guard Elijah Randall (Chicago, IL) scored a layup and was fouled on the play. He made the ensuing free-throw to complete the three-point play at 92-88.
The Kingsmen subsequently overtook the lead at 97-95 with only 16 ticks left on the clock. On Redlands' next possession Owens plowed his way through traffic for a made layup and foul. He remained calm at the line to go ahead 98-97 with only 10 seconds to go. The Bulldog defense held it down in the final 10 seconds to walk away with a hard-fought, 98-97 victory.
Owens ended the night with 33 points going 17-for-19 from the charity stripe. The team shot 76.7% from the free-throw line and 36.7% from beyond the arc.
The Maroon and Gray return to Currier Gym on Saturday, March 27, for a 7 p.m. exhibition game against Cal Lutheran.