REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands men's basketball team (17-3, 9-2) found themselves down 12 in the second half against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) but a defensive fueled run led them to a 70-65 win Wednesday evening as they moved into second place in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) standings.
The Bulldogs were down eight, 13-5, in the first four minutes before Omari Ferguson, Donovan Ware, and Dayvon Gates combined on a 7-0 run to get within one less than two minutes later.
At the 12:55 mark Lucas Gordon had a tip-in followed by four Kendrick Currey free throws for their largest lead of the half at three, 18-15.
Redlands led down under four minutes to play before the Stags took the lead. They would maintain that lead the remainder of the half, though, Currey scored four of the final five points to reduce the deficit to two, 38-36, at the break.
After five minutes of play to begin the second half the Bulldogs had scored only four points and were down by their largest margin of 12, 52-40.
Over the next eight minutes Redlands would methodically come back to take the lead, 55-54, after Chozen Amadi hit a three. The Bulldogs forced eight turnovers and committed only three during the run.
The forced turnovers off their full court press continued after taking the lead as Currey scored twice on the fastbreak to extend the lead to five, 59-54, as the Stags took a timeout.
CMS, however, used their experience to score six points in 40 seconds to close the gap to one, 63-62, with 4:17 still to play. The Bulldogs did not lose focus, responding with a 7-0 run that put the game away.
Currey led the way with 23 points, four assists, two rebounds, two steals, and a block. Defensively Jhace Boston was all over the place with five rebounds, four steals, and three blocks. On the glass Gordon had a career-high and the second highest single-game rebounding total in program history with 20. He finished one off the record held by Chuc Blair and Perry Bellaire from 1968 and 1989.
The tough games do not end here as the Bulldogs host No. 20 and first place California Lutheran University this Saturday at 7 p.m.