FREDERICK, Md. – The University of Redlands men's basketball team (24-4) dominated the opening 20 minutes of their NCAA First Round matchup against Susquehanna University as they coasted to a 96-71 win.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a double figure lead in the first six minutes as they were up by 10, 17-7, after five different players scored led by five points from Jake Hlywiak and a total of three threes.
Their early lead led to a 24-5 run that pushed their advantage to 24, 36-12, with 10:31 on the clock. Austin Unegbu, Chozen Amadi, Hlywiak, and Nathan Mattera all made threes during the run.
The River Hawks did put together a quick 6-1 run to cut the lead to 19 at the 7:51 mark, but Gordon came back with a three off a Hlywiak assist and the two flipped roles with Gordon finding Hlywiak open from behind the arc to reestablish the 20-point advantage.
Unegbu then got out on the fastbreak and gave Redlands their largest lead of the half, 27, 49-22, with 5:23 to play in the opening half.
Redlands led by as many as 30, 60-30, after Amadi made their 11th three. Susquehanna, however, did close with a 5-0 run as the Bulldogs took a 25-point lead into the half.
In the second half the Bulldogs denied any opportunity for a comeback attempt as they led by at least 22 points the entire half which allowed them to keep all their starters to no more than 20 minutes played.
Hlywiak led the way with 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting overall and 4-of-7 from three. Derek Sangster and Donovan Ware each had 11 points with Omari Ferguson adding 10. Gordon finished with seven points and 11 rebounds. Jhace Boston quietly had five points and five assists in only 14 minutes.
Redlands advances to the second round where they face the host and No. 17 Hood College tomorrow afternoon at 2:35 p.m. pacific time.
