HOME OF BULLDOG MEN'S BASKETBALL - 18 SCIAC Championships

Head Coach Jim Ducey continued to cultivate his student-athletes in the University of Redlands men’s basketball program as the team improved by a game in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) standings over last year’s finish and ended the season ranked sixth overall.

The team gained valuable experience, competing against challenging non-conference opponents such as New York University, Carthage College (WI) and NCAA Division II’s Clarion University (PA).

Redlands kicked off its season with a trip to New Jersey as the squad participated in the Kean University Classic. The Bulldogs dropped a nine-point decision to New York, 60-69, before coming up just short against Clarion, 65-66, and despite outscoring the Golden Eagles in the second half.

A week later, the Maroon and Gray returned home and faced a Carthage team that hovered around the outskirts of the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll for the middle portion of the season. Redlands kept up with the Red Men early, but Carthage pulled ahead in the second half due to an 81 percent free-throw percentage. The squad salvaged the defeat with an 87-68 stomping of La Sierra University three days later.

Hosting the 61st Annual Lee Fulmer Tournament, the Bulldogs struggled against a challenging field of teams. Redlands lost a close one to UC Santa Cruz and then fell to regional rival Chapman University before claiming seventh in the tournament by taking out Southwestern College (AZ).

Redlands headed into the winter break on a positive note, crushing West Coast Baptist University, 71-59.

Chapman blasted the Bulldogs on Dec. 30 before the Maroon and Gray rebounded with a win over La Sierra the following day, 74-48. After dropping a final non-conference tune-up versus NAIA opponent Biola University, the Bulldogs stormed into their conference schedule with a thrilling game against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges.

The Stags led by as many as 13 in the second half, but sophomore forward Matt Dietrich (Phoenix, AZ) helped chip away at the deficit as he scored a game-high 25 points. Freshman guard/forward Stephen Call (Portola Valley, CA) drained a three-pointer with 39 seconds remaining to bring the score within one. After Claremont-Mudd-Scripps made one of two free throws, two missed three-pointers spoiled the Bulldogs’ chances at victory.

Redlands lost back-to-back games to Whittier College and Pomona-Pitzer Colleges before it captured its first SCIAC victory with a 76-59 thumping of the University of La Verne. Dietrich and junior guard Patrick Coffey (San Carlos, CA) scored 20 and 19, respectively, while junior guard Breck Mahoney (Chicago, IL) shot 4-for-5 from the field, compiling 15 points in 20 minutes of action off of the bench.

After losing three of four, the Bulldogs captured its most exhilarating triumph of the season when they stunned Whittier in Currier Gym. In front of a near capacity crowd, the Maroon and Gray traded blows with the Poets and took the SCIAC top-four team down to the wire. Coffey and sophomore guard Kent Ervin (Bend, OR) hit their free-throws in the game’s final 10 seconds as Redlands walked away with the upset win by a 71-67 final.

From that point forward, the Bulldogs’ season turned around as the team would sweep its season series with La Verne. After a loss against Cal Lutheran University, Redlands handled Caltech before facing conference rival Occidental College in the season finale.

Up six at the half, the Maroon and Gray appeared destined for a victory, but the Tigers clawed back and took a three-point lead with 3:35 remaining in the game. Call drilled a three-pointer with 3:09 left, tying the contest at 61. Occidental then went up one on a made free-throw attempt, and both teams struggled to score during the next 1:27. Down by one with two seconds remaining, senior forward Travis Miller (Coto de Caza, CA) broke into the lane on an inbounds pass and laid the ball into the cylinder, giving Redlands a phenomenal 63-62 triumph.

The conference head coaches recognized two essential cogs on the Bulldog men’s basketball team as Coffey and Dietrich both garnered All-SCIAC honors. Coffey led the team in scoring and landed on the First Team while Dietrich, who posed a threat in the post, picked up Second-Team laurels.

With both All-Conference recipients and 10 additional Bulldogs returning to the Currier Gym hardwood next year, expect Redlands to continue its climb up the SCIAC standings.