REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Basketball team returned to the court Wednesday night after three weeks away from competition and they faced a full Caltech squad who pulled off the 84-73 victory inside Currier Gym.
The Bulldogs were at a disadvantage, on top of only having nine players out of 16 available due to health and safety protocols they also have not been able to practice as a full team in a couple of weeks.
With the loss UR drops to 5-4, 1-1 SCIAC, while Caltech improves to 8-3, 2-0 SCIAC.
Darne Duckett (Oakland, CA) and Romeo Mays (Vallejo, CA) were the bright spots for the Bulldogs combining for 47 of the 73 points and being only two of three players to reach double figures. Duckett put up a team high 24 points on 7-of-20 shooting to go with five rebounds, six assists and five steals. Mays added another 23 points with nine rebounds and a pair of blocks, while going 8-of-11 from the field and Josh Himel (Jacksonville, FL) came off the bench to tally 10 points and five boards, while knocking down a pair of triples.
Redlands got off to a hot start scoring the first seven points with Mays adding two free throws and a layup, followed by a Himel three-pointer. But CIT was able to stop that run quickly as Marcus Gee would go back to back from behind the arc to get the offense going for the Beavers. Midway through the half Caltech put together a 12-2 run highlighted by two three-pointers from Stephen Hei that put CIT on top 22-16. They then stretched that advantage to 13 at the 8:26 mark but it wouldn't hold as UR would storm back to erase that deficit quickly. Duckett started the comeback with five of the next eight points for the Bulldogs getting them within seven. Then with 3:37 to play he would string together seven straight himself adding a layup, two free-throws and a triple that pulled UR within two at 41-39.
Mays then tied things up on the Bulldogs' next possession going inside with 1:15 left and Duckett put the finishing touches on the comeback with an offensive board and put back to give Redlands a 43-41 halftime lead.
This momentum stayed with the U of R across the first two minutes of the second half stretch their lead to double digits after a Mays layup and back to back triples from Duckett and Gunner Wooden (Canton, MI). But again CIT would find a way to get back into the contest this time from Spencer Schneider who would convert a four-point play after getting fouled on a three-pointer and that led to Gee answering from deep to make it a three-point game. Six straight by UR stopped the run to move the advantage back to nine with 15:29 to play, but again it would be Gee who would spark the CIT offensive attack knocking down a three-pointer followed by a pair of layups from Hei and Riley Wood that would pull them within two.
The final lead for UR came at the 9:45 mark thanks to a Mays layin. After that it was all Caltech using a 17-4 run to grab a 78-69 lead with 2:57 to play. Redlands tried to create one final push with Justice Marmara (Arlington, TX) adding a layup and Himel knocking down a jumper, but free-throws down the stretch proved costly as UR would go 0-5 across the final 2:30 allowing CIT to steal the road victory.
The Maroon and Grey shot 42% from the field, 25% from three-point territory, and 74% from the charity stripe. They grabbed a mere 29 rebounds and turned the ball over 18 times, which led to 18 Caltech points. They did add 34 points in the paint and got 12 points from the bench.
Redlands remains at home this Saturday, January 15 when they host Cal Lutheran University beginning at 2:00pm.
