THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The University of Redlands men's basketball team (5-2, 1-1) played the defending Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Champions close on the road Saturday night, but they would fall on a late three, 73-71.
This was a defensive battle early on as a Donovan Ware made a three off a Kendrick Currey assist that put the Bulldogs ahead 10-9.
At the 8:23 mark the Kingsmen converted on a three that put them ahead by their largest margin of eight, 23-15. The Bulldogs would respond with a Dayvon Gates tip-in and field goals for Ware and Chozen Amadi as they got within a possession, 23-21.
Coming out of the half Omari Ferguson got out on the fastbreak for the first points of the half. Those points, though, were two of only five points in the first five minutes as they found themselves down double figures for the first time.
They did not panic, scoring the next 10 points to tie the game thanks to five points from Amadi, four for Lucas Gordon, and three forced turnovers by the defense.
With 10:49 to play Ferguson got a steal and his play would turn into the first lead of the half as Gates got to the rim for a 49-47 advantage.
After a few lead changes over the next couple of minutes, Jhace Boston's and-one made it 56-53. That lead would be seven on three different occasions and as late as the 5:26 mark when Currey scored.
Down inside of two minutes to play in regulation, the Bulldogs held onto their lead, 69-68, but the Kingsmen's comeback put them ahead with 1:05 remaining.
Boston drew a foul with 35 seconds on the clock. He made the first to tie the game and the second to take the lead.
CLU did not take a timeout after the second free throw and with 23 seconds on the clock they made what would be the game-winning shot, a three-pointer. On the other end a last second, game-tying layup from Amadi would not fall as the Bulldogs lost a nailbiter.
Amadi and Gordon were the lone players in double figures with 20 and 13 points respectively. Overall, they matched the Kingsmen in most areas except the three-point line where they were minus nine and the free throw line where they were minus three.
The tough games do not end here as they head to Claremont for a matchup with Pomona-Pitzer on Monday, December 16 at 4:00 p.m.