HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, VA. – The University of Redlands Men's Basketball team (6-1) returned to the court following a 16-day layoff from competition and looked solid picking up a win over No. 13 Roanoke College 79-60 to open the Elder, Friedman, & Allen Holiday Classic.
The Bulldogs gained a seven-point lead in the first five minutes of the opening 20:00 when Jhace Boston (Bakersfield, CA) found Donovan Ware (Palmdale, CA) on a three-pointer. The lead was maintained by Chozen Amadi (Richardson, TX) when he hit a triple off a Lucas Gordon (San Marcos, CA) assist.
Roanoke, though, responded with a 12-4 run that put them ahead, 19-18, with 9:18 to play in the opening half.
Back-to-back threes by Jake Hlywiak (Valencia, CA) and Ware put UR back on top, 24-22, and this lead they would maintain the remainder of the first half as they led the Maroons by five, 36-31, despite not scoring for more than three minutes to end the half.
Redlands pulled away early in the second half thanks to three-pointers from Hlywiak, Derek Sangster (Sunnyvale, CA), and Boston. This strong offensive surge coupled with a defensive performance that held Roanoke scoreless for more than five minutes giving the Maroon and Grey their largest lead of the game at 19, 50-31.
Over the next five minutes the Maroons cut the deficit to eight, 55-47, but Nathan Mattera (Fontana, CA) made another Bulldog three-pointer, which led to a stretch where Redlands scored 18 of 23 points pushing the lead to 21 with 2:35 remaining on the clock.
Omari Ferguson (Chicago, Ill.), Cam Brown (Bakersfield, CA), and Boston combined for six points in the final two minutes as the Bulldogs secured the victory over the No. 13-ranked team in the country, while improving to 6-1.
Head Coach Eric Bridgeland on his team's performance on the road: "Our guys have put in a lot of work the last two weeks and it showed – very happy and proud of them. Roanoke is as good as any team in the country."
Ferguson (14), Boston (12), Sangster (11), and Hlywiak (11) all scored in double figures as the Bulldogs played around not having Gordon who fouled out in 15 minutes. On the night the Bulldogs shots 41% from the field, 36% from deep, added 19 second chance points, 32 points in the paint, 20 points off turnovers, and received 34 points from the bench.
Redlands will get tournament host and No. 16 Hampden-Sydney College tomorrow afternoon, Saturday, December 20 at 12:30 p.m. The two sides played in the NCAA Third Round last season at New York University (NYU). A game that the Bulldogs won 83-72.
