CLAREMONT, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Basketball team (19-7, 12-4) upset No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on the road Friday evening 83-78. With the win and No. 1 Pomona-Pitzer's loss to No. 4 California Lutheran University, UR will now host the Kingsmen for the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Tournament Championship inside Currier Gym, Saturday, February 25 at 7:00pm.
In the first half the Bulldogs got off to a great start, leading by six, 8-2 forcing a Stag timeout at the 17:04 mark. Josh Himel (Jacksonville, FL) later made a three off a Cameron Brown (Bakersfield, CA) assist to make it 13-7 Bulldogs.
The Stags, though, came alive in the last 10 minutes of the half as they went from trailing by six, 21-15, to leading by 10 at the break, 47-37.
The second half saw the Bulldogs and Stags play to a stalemate in the first six plus minutes as CMS still led by double digits. Over the next three minutes the Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run to close the gap to within three, 61-58, thanks to three points from Khyree Armstead (Mountlake Terrace, WA) and a pair of buckets from Neil Owens (Pasadena, CA) and Sam Abere (Lake Oswego, OR).
The Stags were able to keep the Bulldogs at arm's length until the final three minutes when Redlands scored eight of the next ten points to go in front by three, 78-75, with :41 seconds left.
Armstead started the run with a layup after an offensive rebound at the 2:52 mark, then Owens went to the line and made two free throws after Redlands got possession following a Stag turnover to give them their first lead of the half.
CMS would retake the lead briefly after Owens' free throws, but with 1:22 remaining in the game he hit a jumper and was fouled. He made the free throw to convert the three-point play and made it 77-75 Bulldogs.
Ten seconds later Nathaniel Johnson (Seattle, WA) came up big defensively with a block to get Redlands the ball back with the lead. Then with :45 seconds on the clock Abere was able to track down the offensive rebound and force CMS to foul.
The last :23 seconds saw first-year Brown make both of his free throws and Johnson make three-of-four from the line to seal the 83-78 win. All told the Bulldogs outscored the Stags 32-17 over the final 13:27.
Redlands managed to overcome a 41.7% shooting mark from the field and a 30.8% mark from three, while making the same number of free throws as CMS, thanks to a plus 10 mark on points off turnovers, and plus nine on second chance points. Due to the activity on the offensive glass, the Bulldogs got 16 more field goal attempts despite only forcing four more turnovers.
In the first half Redlands shot 34.1 percent and only had one free throw, but in the second half they shot 53.6 percent and converted on 14 from the line.
The one constant from one half to the other was Owens, who had an 11-point first half and a 16-point second half to finish with 27 points, which ties his career-high he set last SCIAC Postseason at CMS in the quarterfinal Bulldog loss which they avenged tonight.
Armstead and Johnson each had 12 points and eight rebounds, and most importantly combined for only three turnovers and five fouls as they played 29 and 27 minutes respectively. This was the most minutes for Armstead since the beginning of the month and the most for Johnson since January.
The Bulldogs will host No. 4 California Lutheran University inside Currier Gym, Saturday, February 25 with tipoff set for 7:00 p.m.