REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Basketball team (9-2, 1-1 SCIAC) returned home to Currier Gym for their first home game since November beating Pomona-Pitzer (P-P), 94-77, for their first Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) win of the season.
The Sagehens got on the scoreboard first followed by Chozen Amadi (Richardson, TX) who knocked down a triple, sparking a 16-0 run with Derek Sangster (Sunnyvale, CA) and Jhace Boston (Bakersfield, CA) contributing a combined eight points during the stretch.
P-P cut the deficit to single digits on three occasions soon after, including with 4:38 to play in the half, but Redlands scored six unanswered that put them in front by 15, 38-23. They did concede four of the final six points though but still held a 12-point lead at the half.
The Bulldogs opened the first minute and a half of the second half on a 6-2 run moving their lead to the largest margin of the game, 16, 49-33. An 11-2 Sagehen run, though, cut the lead back to seven with 16:38 on the clock.
Following some back-and-forth that had the margin at eight, 59-51, with 13:35 still to play, Jake Hlywiak (Valencia, CA) and Omari Ferguson (Chicago, Ill.) scored four points in :28 seconds and extended the U of R lead to 17 in just over two minutes.
With 7:12 to go the Sagehens converted on a pair of free throws that once again made it a three-possession game, 73-64. Amadi, however, scored five points across four minutes to put the game away.
After struggling defensively against Mary Hardin-Baylor last time out, the Bulldogs held the Sagehens to 41.5 percent from the field and forced 16 turnovers. On the night Redlands finished with 18 points off turnovers, had seven second chance points, 41 bench points, 44 points in the paint, and 26 fastbreak points.
Amadi finished with a game-high 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 from deep. He led five players in double figures. Boston added 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting to go with a 3-for-4 effort from behind the arc and a double double with 10 rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and a steal. Ferguson added 13 points to go with three rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Sangster then chipped in 12 points knocking down a pair of triples and Cam Brown (Bakersfield, CA) would wrap up the double digit scoring with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting to go with another four rebounds.
Redlands will now travel for the first time in 2026 as they venture to Pasadena to take on the California Institute of Technology this Wednesday, January 7 beginning at 7:00pm.
