The University of Redlands men's basketball team faced tough competition on Saturday night, suffering a difficult loss to NAIA opponent BIOLA University, 55-79.  After putting up a strong effort in the first half, the Bulldogs struggled from the floor in the final period, shooting just 28.1%.  In addition, Redlands failed to match up against a bigger and stronger opponent and came away with its second loss of the season.

BIOLA got off to a fast start, quickly opening a 13-point lead before Redlands scored its first basket.  However, a stingy Bulldog defense resulted in Eagle turnovers, allowing Redlands to creep back into the game.  On the heels of senior forward Dave Thomas' (Santa Cruz, CA) impressive shooting, the Bulldogs fought back to take the lead with 4:45 to go in the first half.  Nonetheless, the Eagles remained steady and converted 19 points on fast breaks, taking advantage of opportunity in transition.  A strong inside presence from BIOLA continued to hamper the Bulldogs, even though senior forward Matt Loretz (Los Altos, CA) tallied seven blocks for Redlands.  

Thomas led the Bulldogs with 13 points while sophomore guard Justin Sobczyk (Palm Desert, CA) added 11, going four-for-five from the field. 

BIOLA looked to the scoring power of sophomore guard Marlon King (San Diego, CA) with 15, senior forward Danny Jones (Imperial, CA) with 14, and freshman guard Luke Duperron (Torrance, CA) with 13.

Redlands men's basketball (1-2) hosts the 60^th Annual Lee Fulmer Memorial Basketball Tournament on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  The Bulldogs welcome Cal State East Bay, Chapman University, Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, Southwestern College (AZ), UC Santa Cruz, Whitworth University (WA), and West Coast Baptist College to this year's tournament.  Game times are 2, 4, 6, and 8 p.m. each night.  Redlands takes on Santa Cruz at 8 p.m. on Thursday.  For a complete schedule, please log onto www.redlands.edu/athletics.xml.