CLAREMONT, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Basketball team needed a win Wednesday night to keep their hopes a live for securing the No. 2 seed in the upcoming SCIAC Tournament, but could not disrupt Claremont-M-S on their Senior Night falling 79-64 on the road.
The Bulldogs have locked up the No. 3 seed in the SCIAC Tournament, which begins next Friday, February 24 and have improved to 16-7, 10-4 SCIAC.
Neil Owens (Pasadena, CA) again hit double figures finishing with 12 points. Cal Hansen (Burien, WA) also emerged off the bench also adding 12 points on 6-of-12 shooting. He also had four rebounds. Josh Himel (Jacksonville, FL) was deadly from deep knocking down three triples for nine points and Khyree Armstead (Mountlake Terrace, WA) posted another nine points to go with five rebounds, an assist and four steals.
The first two points of the game came courtesy of Nathaniel Johnson (Seattle, WA) as the Bulldogs held the Stags scoreless for nearly two minutes. Following a CMS basket that tied the game at two, Armstead hit a jumper to make it 4-2, but this would be the final time the Bulldogs would be in front.
CMS made multiple runs to try and take a double-digit lead in the first ten minutes, but Redlands was able to make some timely buckets to stay within striking distance, trailing by only four, 16-12, at the 10:34 mark.
Three minutes later the Stags finally took full control of the game, taking their first double digit lead, 26-16, with seven minutes left in the opening half.
This advantage moved to 13 on a couple of occasions, but the Bulldogs used a 14-6 run over the final 4:05 to cut into the deficit heading into the half from 13 to five, 41-36. During the run Himel hit a pair of threes to fuel the Bulldogs and Owens, Hansen, and Armstead added baskets helping swing the momentum at the break.
In the first two minutes of the second half the Stags erased a majority of the Bulldogs work as they reclaimed a double-digit lead, 46-36.
At the 14:59 mark the Stags took their largest lead of the game at 15, 53-38. The Bulldogs would trail by that 15-point deficit multiple times, but they were able to get within single-digits at the 10:32 mark when Johnson made a pair of free throws. Johnson then scored in the paint soon after and made it a six-point deficit, 59-53, with 9:55 still left in the game.
During the Bulldogs 15-6 run they picked up four points from Johnson, Sam Abere (Lake Oswego, OR), and Hansen, with another three coming from Robert Power (Pacific Palisades, CA).
Despite U of R's best efforts the Stags were unwavered as they got their lead back to ten, 63-53, only a minute after the Bulldogs pulled within two possessions. Over the final eight plus minutes CMS outscored Redlands 16-11 to force the Bulldogs to travel to start the SCIAC Tournament following their final two regular season games.
Redlands shot 35.8% from the field, 24% from three-point territory and 71.4% from the free-throw line. They were outrebounded 39-33, but added 20 points off turnovers, 34 points inside the paint, and 25 points from the bench.
The Bulldogs will return home this weekend to Currier Gym for Senior Night occurring on Saturday, February 18 with tipoff against the University of La Verne set for 7:00 p.m.