In a tale of two halves, the University of Redlands men's basketball team ran out of steam, as Chapman University came out on top in a 60-56 decision in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action in Orange on Monday night.
Both teams began the game firing on all cylinders, as sophomore guard Michael Hanna's (Murrieta, CA) layup tied the game at 12 less than five minutes into action. Hanna went on to score the next three points for Redlands' slight three-point lead before a Panther trey tied it back up.
After a scoreless three minutes for either team, first-year wing Gary Menary (Grass Valley, CA) broke Redlands out of the scoring slump with a layup at the 7:42-mark to take a 17-15 lead. The Maroon and Gray kept a lid on the Panthers' basket for another minute before the game was tied once again at 17.
The tide turned at the 7:42-point of the frame when Menary's layup gave the Bulldogs a permanent first-half lead. After he slashed to the rim for another lay-in, he found sophomore forward Spencer Bandow (Covina, CA) twice for five consecutive points to put Redlands up by seven with 4:37 to go. The Bulldogs ended the half with seven points off of junior forward David Menary (Grass Valley, CA) and sophomore forward Parker Landolf(Alamo, CA) to carry a 33-23 lead into the second stanza.
To start the half, D. Menary stepped back for a trey in the opening minute. The Maroon and Gray's defense came out making stops and not allowing a Panther field goal for nearly three minutes.
However, the Panthers caught their stride at the 12:21-mark when they cut the deficit to single-digits. While facing a scoring slump, the Bulldogs found themselves down by one point with less than 10 minutes remaining.
Redlands saw D. Menary score another layup to take back the lead, which sustained the visiting team until the Panthers evened the tally at 54 with 4:04 to go. Redlands struggled to convert points in the closing minutes of the game until G. Menary sank two free throws with 12 seconds left to trail by only one point at 56-57.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, Chapman hit three late free throws to close out the 60-56 victory.
For Redlands, D. Menary led the game with 17 points, seven rebounds, two steals, and one block. G. Menary registered one of his strongest games of the year with 13 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and a block, while Bandow tallied seven points and five rebounds in 12 minutes off the bench.
As a team, the Bulldogs moved the ball around well with an 18-8 assist advantage over the Panthers.
Redlands (6-7, 1-3 SCIAC) continues road action on Wednesday, January 9, against Cal Lutheran University at 7 p.m. in Thousand Oaks.