ORANGE, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Basketball team (14-3, 6-2 SCIAC) knocked down 18 three-pointers earlier in the week against Pomona-Pitzer, but on Wednesday night at Chapman University they made only six but held the Panthers to 41 percent shooting and received a career night from Lucas Gordon (San Marcos, CA) who had 26 points and 15 rebounds in an 80-62 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) road win.
The Bulldogs' offense was held to just two points in the first five plus minutes. Jake Hlywiak (Valencia, CA) and Dayvon Gates (Carson, CA), though, combined for seven points and turned a four-point deficit into a four point lead,10-6.
Gordon, Jhace Boston (Bakersfield, CA), and Chozen Amadi (Dallas, TX) then completed a 10-point run to extend the lead to 11, 20-9, as the U of R defense held the Panthers to four made field goals in the first 10 minutes.
The lead would grow to as many as 20 after a pair of Gordon tip ins, an Amadi three, and a Gates layup with 2:23 to play in the half.
Chapman would finish the final minute of the half with a couple of baskets that Gordon stopped with a late layup for a 43-25 UR halftime lead.
The 4-2 Panther run from the end of the first half extended to 11-2 as they held the Bulldogs scoreless for more than two minutes and were within 11, 43-32, after trailing by 20 only four minutes prior.
A 16-6 response would reestablish the 20-point lead for the Maroon and Grey, 58-38, with 11:08 on the clock. A pair of Chapman threes across the next :49 seconds put a little life into the game for them, but Redlands would hold a 20-point lead for six of the final seven minutes.
The Bulldogs had nine different scorers on the night. Gordon, however, did the heavy lifting on offense with 26 points and shot 84.6 percent (11-of-13) from the field, while the rest of the team shot 38.1 percent (21-of-55). His points and 15 rebounds are both career bests. Amadi was the other Bulldog in double figures with 10 to go with five steals and Boston added seven points, six rebounds, three assists and a steal. For the game the Bulldogs had 19 points off turnovers, 15 second chance points, 38 bench points, 50 points in the paint, and seven fastbreak points.
Redlands will play game two of three on the road as they travel to Occidental College this Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. in game one of their two-game season series.
