THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Basketball team completed the season sweep over Cal Lutheran University 70-69 Wednesday afternoon on the road inside Gilbert Arena.
The Bulldogs overcame a 16-point deficit with ten minutes to play and picked up the win thanks to Romeo Mays (Vallejo, CA) who converted an and one with 4.6 seconds remaining.
Redlands moves back to .500 at 10-10, 6-8 SCIAC. They have won two out of their last three games and remain in the hunt for hosting a first round game for the SCIAC Post Season Tournament.
It was a strong shooting night from the floor for the U of R going 45.5% from the field, 21.4% from deep and 68% from the free-throw line. They totaled 31 rebounds, 36 points in the paint, 17 fastbreak points and forced 17 CLU turnovers turning them into 20 points.
The bench was incredible once again for the Maroon and Grey as Coach Bridgeland continues to show off the depth on his team. They put up 41 points led by Khair Jackson (Canoga Park, CA) who had a team high 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting with four steals and a block. Neil Owens (Pasadena, CA) was the only other Bulldog in double figures putting up 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting, playing 30 minutes.
The Bulldogs fell behind early 13-5 within the first three minutes of the game. But over the next minute Colin McCarthy (Redwood City, CA) and Gunner Wooden (Canton, MI) each scored to stem the tide. With under six minutes to play in the half Jackson brought UR within two thanks to a free throw. But again CLU was able to retake a double-digit lead at the 3:50 mark. With the deficit at 11, Jackson sparked another Redlands comeback with a pair of layups and a free-throw followed by a McCarthy three-point play and an Owens free-throw. This moved the margin to three 43-40 at the break.
The second half remained scoreless across the first two minutes until the Kingsmen knocked down a three-pointer. The deficit moved back to eleven soon after and then ballooned to 16 with ten minutes remaining. But the Bulldogs didn't go away quietly outscoring CLU 23-6 over the final 9:43. During this run Owens scored nine of the 23 points, three more than the Kingsmen combined. He hit a three with a 1:02 left and Mays came down with 4.6 seconds remaining to convert the three-point play capping off a 6-0 run after being down five with 1:02 remaining. The final look for the Kingsmen was off the mark as their final shot came up short allowing Redlands to come away with the road win.
Redlands looks to carry this momentum into Wednesday night, February 16 when they travel to take on Caltech beginning at 7:00pm.