REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Basketball team (19-8, 12-4) lost 69-68 off a missed layup, put back by California Lutheran University (CLU) in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Tournament Championship Game Saturday night. With the loss the Bulldogs will have to wait and see if they get an at-large bid into the NCAA Division III National Championships.

The first five plus minutes saw the Kingsmen and Bulldogs tied on two different occassions before Redlands stretched their lead to nine, 26-17, with 5:46 left in the half. During their 20-9 run Colin McCarthy (Redwood City, CA) scored five points, Sam Abere (Lake Oswego, OR) had five points, Nathaniel Johnson (Seattle, WA) and Cameron Brown (Bakersfield, CA) each with four, and Neil Owens (Pasadena, CA) got inside for two.

Over the next three minutes the Kingsmen went on an 11-2 run to tie the game at 28. They would then take a one-point lead, 31-30, at the 1:39 mark, a scoreline that would hold until halftime.

Redlands took a lead briefly in the first five minutes of the second half, leading by as many as four before CLU took a 40-39 lead at the 14:24 mark.

The Bulldogs got within one with thirteen minutes left, but the Kingsmen extended the lead to three after a pair of free throws. That three-point deficit was then erased by Khyree Armstead (Mountlake Terrace, WA) who hit a triple with 12:36 on the clock.

CLU quickly answered the Armstead three with a three of their own and that lead would be hold and get extended to eight, 60-52, with only 6:03 left.  

Robert Power (Pacific Palisades, CA) then got out into a fastbreak and spun his way around his defender for a layup that sparked a 16-6 run, which ended in Owens hitting two free throws to give the lead back to the Bulldogs with :16 seconds remaining.

Despite holding a timeout, the Kingsmen decided to play out the end of the game without any stoppages and with a few seconds left they got to the rim, but Johnson affected the shot which missed to the backside of the basket, and on the other side was a Kingsmen who put back the miss for the game-winning layup with only two seconds left. The final three point attempt from outside half court missed and CLU would come away with the 69-68 victory.

Owens led the Bulldogs with 18 points despite playing the majority of the second half with a cut that required medical attention multiple times after he got elbowed on a CLU dribble that resulted in a flagrant foul.

With the loss and no automatic qualification into the NCAA Division III National Championships, Redlands will have to wait and see if the selection committee will award them an at-large bid.