WHITTIER, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Basketball team (22-3, 14-2 SCIAC) earned a share of their first Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Regular Season Title since 2013 following an 83-79 road win at Whittier College Saturday night.
In the opening four and a half minutes the Bulldogs held a four-point advantage, 10-6, after Nathan Mattera (Fontana, CA) found Donovan Ware (Palmdale, CA) for a three-pointer. The lead was then extended to eight with 11:30 on the clock after Jake Hlywiak (Valencia, CA) and Kendrick Currey (Manteca, CA) assisted Chozen Amadi (Dallas, TX) on a pair of triples.
It was a run-filled final eight minutes as the Bulldogs led by nine before the Poets came back to tie the game at 35-35 with 4:32 to play.
Lucas Gordon (San Marcos, CA) and Omari Ferguson (Chicago, Ill.) then pushed Redlands back in front with six straight. That run was countered with a 6-0 Poet run to end the half with the game tied up at 41-41.
Trailing by three in the first two minutes of the second half Amadi made a three before a steal by Ferguson led to a Gordon dunk sparking eight straight by the Maroon and Grey capped off by a Hlywiak three.
Much like the end of the first half, Whittier responded with a run that pulled them within one, 53-52, with 13:36 on the clock. A 10-0 run, with all 10 points coming from Amadi and Gordon, gave Redlands their first double-digit lead of the game, 63-52.
The run would be key as the Poets pulled within a possession multiple times the rest of the way, but the Bulldogs pulled it out thanks to a 4-of-4 mark at the line from Jhace Boston (Bakersfield, CA) and Currey.
Gordon finished with a double-double of 25 points and 10 rebounds. Amadi made five three-pointers and finished with 21 points, three rebounds, and three assists.
The 22 wins this season are the most for the Bulldogs since 2012-13 when they made their last NCAA Tournament appearance. It is also one of only four 22-win seasons for a program that played its first season in 1917-18. Their 14 SCIAC wins are the second most in program history.
The 68 wins for Head Coach Eric Bridgeland are the most in the first four seasons of a coaching tenure in program history (excludes the two-game COVID season in 2020-21).
Redlands earns the No. 2 seed in the upcoming SCIAC Tournament after tying California Lutheran University (CLU) for the regular season title. CLU wins on the tiebreaker, after the two teams split the season series, because they have a 2-0 record against third place Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) and Redlands went 1-1.
The Bulldogs will now host Claremont-M-S in the SCIAC Tournament Semi-Finals on Friday, February 28 beginning at 7:00 p.m. inside Currier Gym.
