HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, VA. – The University of Redlands men's basketball team (6-1) returned the court after a couple of weeks off and they picked up a win over Roanoke College 79-60.
The Bulldogs gained a seven-point lead in the first five minutes of the first half when Jhace Boston found Donovan Ware on a three. The lead was maintained by Chozen Amadi when he hit a three off a Lucas Gordon pass.
Roanoke, though, responded with a 12-4 run that gave them the lead, 19-18, with 9:18 to play in the opening half.
Back-to-back threes by Jake Hlywiak and Ware gave the Bulldogs the lead, 24-22. They would maintain that lead the remainder of the first half as they led the Maroons by five, 36-31, despite not scoring for more than three minutes to end the half.
Redlands pulled away early in the second half thanks to threes by Hlywiak, Derek Sangster, and Boston and a defensive performance that held Roanoke scoreless for more than five minutes as they held their largest lead of the game at 19, 50-31.
Over the next five minutes the Maroons cut their deficit to eight, 55-47, but Nathan Mattera made another Bulldog three which led to a stretch where Redland scored 18 of 23 points and were up 21 with 2:35 remaining on the clock.
Omari Ferguson, Cam Brown, and Boston combined for six points in the final two minutes as the Bulldogs secured the victory over the No. 13-ranked team in the country.
Head coach Eric Bridgeland on his team's work the since their loss to Chapman University and performance on the road: "Our guys have put in a lot of work the last two weeks and it showed – very happy and proud of them. Roanoke is as good as any team in the country."
Ferguson (14), Boston (12), Sangster (11), and Hlywiak (11) all scored in double figures as the Bulldogs played around not having Gordon who fouled out in 15 minutes.
Redlands will get tournament host and No. 16 Hampden-Sydney College tomorrow afternoon at 12:30 p.m. The two sides played in the NCAA Third Round at New York University last March. A game that the Bulldogs won 83-72.