REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Basketball team (16-9, 8-8 SCIAC) ended their regular season with a 91-60 win over Chapman University Tuesday night inside Currier Gym as they honored Khyree Armstead (Mountlake Terrace, WA) in the final home game for their five seniors.
The game remained deadlocked in the opening three minutes of the game before the Bulldogs took an 11-point lead three minutes later as they led 17-6. Kendrick Currey (Manteca, CA), Cameron Joseph (Fairfield, CA), Robert Power (Pacific Palisades, CA), Cameron Brown (Bakersfield, CA), and Armstead all scored during the 11-0 run.
It was still an eleven point game, 35-24, with 4:30 left in the half before Neil Owens (Pasadena, CA) started a 13-2 run that included dunks from Armstead and Ivan Belkin (Encino, CA). At the half it was 49-29 Bulldogs.
The lead was cut to 15 at the 16:33 mark of the second as the Panthers were plus five in the half. However, the Bulldogs were able to increase the lead to 25 thanks to te unanswered that included a three from Lucas Gordon, a Power jumper and a dunk from Armstead.
The lead peaked at 32, 74-42, inside of ten minutes to play after Owens converted both of his attempts at the line.
Seven seconds after Chapman got a score, the U of R offense came right back as Josh Himel knocked down a three off an Owens assist. Himel would score five more points the rest of the night in his final home game.
It was an even scoring night with all 11 players scoring. Owens and Armstead each had a game-high 17 points and Currey finished with eight points, five assists, and four rebounds.
With the win the Bulldogs finish in a tie for fifth place in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) standings with Occidental College, but they hold the tiebreaker after defeating the Tigers in both meetings this season.
The Bulldogs will now wait for the NCAA Tournament selection show on Monday to see if they receive an At-Large bid. They boast one of the toughest schedules in Division III, are ranked No. 7 in the West Region and collected five upsets on the year, two of which were over teams that currently rank atop their respective regions.
