REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Basketball team picked up their first win of 2022-23 Friday night beating UC Santa Cruz 83-76 inside of Currier Gym.
The Bulldogs had five players in double figures led by Nathaniel Johnson (Seattle, WA) who posted 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting along with seven rebounds and two steals. Khyree Armstead (Mountlake Terrace, WA) added 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting with five rebounds, five assists and a steal. Neil Owens (Pasadena, CA) and Chozen Amadi (Dallas, TX) each tallied 11 points and Robert Power (Pacific Palisades, CA) chipped in with 10 points going 3-for-7 from the field.
First year Lucas Gordon (San Marcos, CA) played a pivotal role off the bench for the U of R playing 14 minutes, while adding a stat line of nine points, seven rebounds, and two blocks.
In the first half the Bulldogs led 10-5 thanks to four quick points from Johnson. The Banana Slugs responded with a run of their own that gave them a 20-18 lead at the 12:45 mark. A Johnson dunk off a Colin McCarthy (Redwood City, Calif.) assist brought Bulldog Nation to their feet and sparked a 13-2 run capped off by a Power three with 8:51 to go.
Redlands' largest lead of the game to that point came at the 8:04 mark after Gordon converted on a pair of free throws moving the score to 33-22.
Despite the great start to the half, the Banana Slugs managed to weather the storm coming from behind to tie the game at 39-39 with a minute and a half remaining in the opening period. The Bulldogs though would take a lead into the break after McCarthy hit a buzzer-beating jumper pushing the score to 43-41.
In the second half Redlands scored the first ten points coming from five different players moving the lead to double digits, 53-41. The Maroon and Grey led the rest of the way holding their largest lead with 4:02 left, which was 16, 72-56. UCSC threatened late cutting the deficit to four with :28 seconds left, but that's as close as they would as McCarthy would go 4-for-4 at the free throw line that secured the win.
The Bulldogs shot 44.4% from the field, 24% from three-point territory and 61.8% from the free-throw line. They were outrebounded 42-32, added 20 points off turnovers and put up 38 points in the paint. The defense made big strides from game one, against Mary Hardin-Baylor, as they held UCSC to 36% shooting from the field and 33.3% percent from deep.
Redlands will get eight days off before hosting St. Thomas (Texas) next Saturday, November 19 beginning at 7:00pm.
