The University of Redlands men's basketball team opened
the 2009 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
(SCIAC) season with an exciting game against the Stags of
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Saturday but came up three
points shy of the victory. CMS prevailed in the final seconds by a
score of 70-67.
After a back-and-forth start to the game, Redlands pulled ahead
with solid shooting and persistent defense, garnering a six-point
lead with 6:04 to go in the first half. The Stags remained
relentless and finally pulled ahead with a three-pointer at the
buzzer to go up 32-29 at the break.
CMS began the second half on an 8-0 run to build a 13-point lead at
the 15-minute mark but the Bulldogs fought back to close within
three with 3:54 remaining in the game. A late-game cold streak
hampered Redlands but then freshman forward Stephen Call (Portola
Valley, CA) hit a three-pointer with 39 seconds left in the game to
cut the deficit to one. Forced to foul in the waning seconds,
Redlands had three chances to tie the game but the shots were off
the mark, resulting in a heartbreaking 67-70 loss to the Stags.
Sophomore forward Matt Dietrich (Phoenix, AZ) carried the Bulldogs
with 25 points, while junior guard Patrick Coffey (San Carlos, CA)
added 13 points. The Stags looked to Michael Bagby to lead the team
with 18 points. Chris Blees chipped in 15 points as Jason Toney and
Austin Soldner each scored 10.
The Bulldogs (4-8, 0-1 SCIAC) head to Whittier College on Wednesday
for a 7:30 p.m. game against the Poets.
