SPOKANE, WA – The University of Redlands Men's Basketball team ended their two-day trip to Spokane, WA over the weekend for the Tip-Off Classic hosted by Whitworth University.
The Maroon and Grey wrapped up the classic with a 76-66 victory over Pacific (OR) University giving Head Coach Eric Bridgeland his first win at the U of R.
Redlands used a 37.3% shooting night, while going 21.4% from deep and 63.4% from the charity stripe to beat the Boxers for their first win of the 2021-22 season. The Bulldogs proved tough defensively forcing 22 Pacific turnovers and capitalizing on them scoring 24 points, while adding another 32 points in the paint.
Across the 40:00 minutes there were seven ties and three lead changes with the largest being ten held by the Bulldogs late in the second half.
Four Bulldogs reached double figures led by Romeo Mays (Vallejo, CA) and Robert Power (Pacific Palisades, CA) each recording 12 points. Hayes also added eight boards and two assists, while going 4-of-5 from the field. Darne Duckett (Oakland, CA) had a solid all around performance putting in 11 points to go with four rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Off the bench Josh Himel (Jacksonville, FL) provided a spark from downtown pouring in 11 points, nine of which were on three pointers to go with three steals. Justice Marmara (Arlington, TX) added a strong nine point, seven-rebound effort and Colin McCarthy (Redwood City, CA) who was in the starting lineup for the second straight game recorded eight points and five rebounds.
Pacific had the hot start on the afternoon jumping out to a 7-2 lead and would hold this advantage throughout the first half, but couldn't pull away as Redlands would stay close thanks to Himel putting up all of his points across the first twenty minutes. The largest lead for the Boxers came at the 11:12 mark when they had a 25-18 advantage. But an ensuing 6-0 run by UR, which included two free throws from Himel, a Marmara jumper and a McCarthy layup would make it a one-point game with 9:04 left. After that it was back and forth with four ties, ending with a pair of free throws from McCarthy that evened the score at 38-38 going into intermission.
It was all Redlands in the second half outscoring Pacific 38-28, while shooting 38% from the field. Pacific did provide some early pushback however grabbing an eight-point lead at 56-48 (11:32), but Redlands would stick around erasing that deficit quickly. A 9-2 run, sparked by a Neil Owens (Pasadena, CA) triple would get UR within one at 58-57. Then with 5:10 to play the Bulldogs would string together nine of eleven that would put them on top 68-64. During the run Duckett provided a free throw and jumper, Power converted an and one and Marmara added an offensive board and put back. After that Redlands wouldn't look back closing the game off with eight unanswered that secured the road win.
Redlands returns to the court this Saturday, November 13 for their home opener when they host another Northwest Conference program in the University of Puget Sound beginning at 7:00pm.
