REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Basketball team dropped their third Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) game Saturday night in a tight 77-73 contest with nationally ranked Pomona-Pitzer.
It was a match-up between two of the top three teams within SCIAC and it came down to the final minute, but the Bulldogs were unable to come away with the win in front of a raucous crowd inside Currier Gym. Redlands moves to 15-6, 9-3 SCIAC and currently sit in 3rd Place within the conference standings.
Cameron Brown (Bakersfield, CA) led the Bulldogs with 18 points, he was joined by Josh Himel (Jacksonville, FL) who had 15 points and Nathaniel Johnson (Seattle, WA) with 10 points as the only three in double figures. Himel tied his career-high with five made threes, a mark he has reached three times now. It was also his first time scoring in double figures in his last six games. Johnson added three blocks for the second-straight game following four coming in last Wednesday's game against Caltech.
After a competitive first few minutes of the game, the Sagehens built an eight-point lead, 15-7, at the 14:03 mark. Less than two minutes later the Bulldogs would find themselves down by double figures for the first time, 20-10.
The deficit grew to eleven before the Bulldogs responded with six unanswered to pull within two possessions, 24-19, with 7:53 left in the half. Brown started the run with four points and Colin McCarthy (Redwood City, CA) added to it with a jumper.
After falling behind by double-digits minutes after getting within five, the Bulldogs stabilized themselves and kept the deficit at single digits inside a minute, including reducing the margin to four with :15 seconds left before P-P got a layup with two seconds on the clock to take a six-point lead into the break, 37-31.
The Sagehens took the last points of the first half and turned it into a 6-0 stretch as they went up by ten, 41-31, just over a minute into the second half.
Trailing by nine, 47-38, with four minutes gone, the Bulldogs held the Sagehens scoreless for the next three minutes as they staged a big comeback to take a three-point lead, 50-27, following a 12-0 run. This was the first time Redlands was able to play out in front the entire game after trailing for 25 minutes. During the Surge Brown provided six points, Himel with a pair of triples and Cal Hansen (Burien, WA) knocking down a jumper.
The lead was short lived however, as UR was out in front for 2:10 before an and-one from the Sagehens would tie the game at 52. P-P would turn those three points into a 7-0 run as they took a 56-52 lead, an advantage they would never relinquish over the final ten plus minutes.
Redlands would get within two on three different occasions down the stretch, the last coming with 3:07 remaining when the score was 69-67, but could not get over the hump and reclaim the lead as P-P would pull out the road win.
The Maroon and Grey shot 36.5% from the field, 30% from three-point territory and 71.4% from the free-throw line. They were outrebounded 40-33, but added 21 points off 17 PP turnovers, 10 second chance points, 31 bench points and 34 points in the paint.
The Bulldogs will remain inside Currier Gym with a home matchup with Whittier College this Wednesday, February 8 beginning at 7:00 p.m.