THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The University of Redlands men's basketball team (12-8, 4-7) again forced themselves to make a second half comeback and again it came up short as they lost 75-71 at first place and No. 13 California Lutheran University (CLU) on Saturday afternoon in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action.
In the opening nine minutes the two teams were tied at two, four, seven, 10, and 16 before Neil Owens started a 6-0 Bulldog run that gave them their largest lead of the opening half, 22-16. Robert Power and Cameron Joseph also scored in the paint during the run.
The Kinsmen would come back to tie the game at 24 with 5:58 left in the half. They would then take an eight-point lead with less than 90 seconds to play as they were on a 20-6 run.
Redlands, though, would hold them scoreless the rest of the half and got one point back at the line after Khyree Armstead made his second free throw as the Bulldogs trailed 36-29 at the half.
After more than 90 seconds of scoreless action to begin the second half, Owens made a three off a Kendrick Currey assist as the deficit was just four.
The Bulldogs continued their great defense in the second half as they allowed only two points in the three plus minutes which allowed them to get within one, 38-37, with 16:42 on the clock.
After the great run got them to a one-point game, the Kingsmen responded with a 9-2 run that made it an eight-point margin once again.
Trailing by eight with just over 13 minutes to play the Bulldogs made another run and this time they came all the way back to take the lead, 48-47, with 11:03 still to play. During the 9-0 run Power scored five points with Currey and Jhace Boston each adding two apiece.
Redlands led by as many as two as late as 6:44, but over the next 5:31 CLU scored 19 of the next 27 point as were up by three full possessions, 72-63, with only 1:13 left in the game.
Despite the large deficit, the Bulldogs were able to draw within two, 73-71, with 14 seconds left after Power grabbed a defensive rebound and then Armstead got it back to him for a layup.
The Kingsmen would then call a timeout and coming out of it they turned the ball over and Boston got a steal which led to a deep three from Power with four seconds left but it missed, and they were forced to foul with one second left which allowed CLU to seal the win with a pair of free throws.
Power had a career-high 24 points (9-15 FG, 4-6 3FG, 2-4 FT) with five rebounds and four assists. The rest of the team, though, had 57 points on 42.2 percent shooting from the field and 20 percent from three in comparison to Power's 60 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from three.
The Bulldogs will get to come home and host Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Wednesday, February 7 at 7:00 p.m. inside Currier Gym in the third consecutive game against a team that is at least receiving top-25 votes.