LA VERNE, Calif. – The University of Redlands men's basketball team got back over .500 following a 75-70 road victory over the University of La Verne Wednesday night.  

With the win the Bulldogs improve to 7-5, 3-2 SCIAC and have won five of their last seven. 

The Maroon and Grey took advantage of a good defensive first half and two double figure scoring performances from sophomores Khair Jackson (Canoga Park, CA) and Josh Himel (Jacksonville, FL).

The Bulldogs got off to s slow start with only two points in the first four minutes as they fell behind by five, 7-2.  They then pulled within one on three different occasions after that but found themselves down five once again, 15-10, with 9:07 remaining. Then with only 4:33 left in the half, the Bulldogs went on a 17-5 run. Himel led the comeback with eight straight over the final 1:33, which included back-to-back triples and was joined by a Romeo Mays (Vallejo, CA) layup and a long three-pointer from Darne Duckett (Oakland, CA) that gave UR a 34-29 lead at the break erasing the seven-point deficit.    

In the first half Himel finished with 14 points in only eight minutes off the bench as the Bulldogs got 19 of their 34 points in the final five minutes, while seeing 50% of their first half scoring come from the bench.

The Bulldogs largest lead of the game came at the 19:08 mark of the second half after Mays threw down a two-handed jam. 

Redlands was able to maintain their multi-possession lead until a Leopards' layup made it a three-point game, 42-39, at the 15:41 mark. After that the Bulldogs and the Leopards went back-and-forth with La Verne tying the game at 56 with 9:19 left.

Much like the first half, the Bulldogs fell behind by multiple possessions, again seeing themselves trail by seven.  But the tenacity of the U of R squad was too much for ULV as Neil Owens (Pasadena, CA) sparked a late rally for Redlands with a pair of made free throws, which were a part of his eight points that he would score in the final 6:34 as UR seized control of the game with a 15-4 run that put the game away. 

Five players were in double figures for UR led by Owens who added 15 points, while shooting 50% from the field.  Jackson added 14 points off the bench, six coming during the final run with eight rebounds, Himel tossed in 14 points going 4-of-5 from deep, Mays chipped in with 12 points, eight rebounds, and four blocks and Justice Marmara (Arlington, TX) provided a 10-point, four rebound effort.   

For the game Redlands shot 41.5% from the field, 30% from three-point territory, and 57.7% from the free-throw line.  Despite being outrebounded 46-38 they only turned the ball over seven times, a season low with 38 points in the paint, 31 bench points, 12 second chance points, and 15 points off turnovers.

The Bulldogs remain on the road with a trip to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps this Saturday, January 22 with tip-off scheduled for 5:00pm.