LA VERNE, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Basketball team (18-3, 10-2 SCIAC) found themselves trailing at the half once again Wednesday evening at the University of La Verne, but they managed to outscore the Leopards by nine in the second half leading to their 93-85 win.
Redlands got on the scoreboard early following a Lucas Gordon (San Marcos, CA) jumper before La Verne would put together five unanswered. Redlands responded with an 11-0 run thanks to baskets by Jhace Boston (Bakersfield, CA), Jake Hlywiak (Valencia, CA), and Gordon. The run gave them an eight-point lead, 13-5, with 16:07 on the clock.
Over the next six minutes, though, the Leopards scored 21 of the next 32 points going back in front by two. With the exception of a few one-possession leads for the Bulldogs, La Verne would lead by as many as five, 46-41, with 1:21 remaining in the half.
Hlywiak then went on a personal 4-0 run that cut the deficit to one, 46-45, at the half.
The 4-0 first half run was doubled to begin the second half as Boston found Gordon inside for a dunk before he again got to the rim for another flush.
The Bulldogs' lead was six a few minutes later before the Leopards cut it back down to one, 63-62, at the 12:26 mark.
Redlands, though, continued to push, beginning with a Chozen Amadi (Richardson, TX) three-pointer that sparked a quick 7-0 surge with Omari Ferguson (Chicago, Ill.) getting into the lane and Boston finding Derek Sangster (Sunnyvale, CA) on the fastbreak.
The lead then grew to 15, 77-62, with 7:57 to play after a Hlywiak free throw. The Maroon and Grey were then able to take advantage of the big lead and close out the game despite a late 11-4 run by the Leopards that cut the lead to six with :37 seconds on the clock.
Boston and Amadi came in clutch with 23 and 17 points, respectively as both shot at or above 50 percent from the field. Boston added 12 rebounds and four assists. The other three double figure scorers were Hlywiak with 13 and Ferguson and Gordon with 10 each. Cam Brown (Bakersfield, CA) made an important six-point, six-rebound contribution off the bench.
Redlands will have a bye this Saturday before hosting the California Institute of Technology next Wednesday, February 11 at 7:00 p.m.
