LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The University of Redlands Men's Basketball team (8-1) continued their strong non-conference play taking down the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) 102-82 in game one of two at the D3hoops.com Classic.
Jake Hlywiak (Valencia, CA) and Donovan Ware (Palmdale, CA) made a pair of triples in the opening three minutes to give the Bulldogs an early 6-3 lead.
That advantage moved to double figures for the first time at the 13:27 mark when Derek Sangster (Sunnvyale, CA) found Hlywiak for a midrange jumper.
Redlands extended their lead to 19, 26-17, with less than eight minutes remaining in the opening half thanks to a 23-7 run covering seven minutes. Lucas Gordon (San Marcos, CA) and Jhace Boston (Bakersfield, CA) led the way during the run with a combined nine points.
Less than two minutes later the Raiders cut the deficit to 12, 39-27, but Omari Ferguson (Chicago, Ill.) had a quick response of five points to push the advantage back to 18.
MSOE again made it a four-possession game with :43 seconds on the clock before Cam Brown (Bakersfield, CA) converted on a pair of free throws to end the half with Redlands on top by 14, 57-43.
Boston had the first four points of the second half, while the U of R defense shut out the Raiders for nearly three minutes. MSOE, though, responded with five quick points, which were countered by a Bulldog 7-0 run with Chozen Amadi (Richardson, TX) knocking down a three-pointer after a Sangster offensive rebound and then getting out on the fastbreak :26 seconds later.
The Bulldogs' strong play gave them a 24-point lead, 86-62, with 7:34 left. Jaiden Agbo (Corona, CA) finished with four points over the final 2:28 to help seal Redlands third win in-a-row.
Brown led six Bulldogs in double figures with 17 points. Sangster missed a double-double by two points with eight points and 12 rebounds. Gordon was a rebound shy of a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Redlands shot 43.8% from the field and 70.6% from the charity stripe. They added 52 points in the paint, 18 second chance points, 20 fastbreak points, and 27 points off turnovers. They also received 50 points from the bench.
The Bulldogs complete their non-conference schedule Tuesday night, December 30 against University of Mary Hardin-Baylor at 6:00 p.m.
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