REDDING, Calif. - Simpson University men's basketball clinches Cal Pac playoff berth with tonight's 102-82 win over La Sierra.

An explosive first half gave Simpson a 17 point lead into the intermission, largely due to the starting backcourt of Aaron Berry and Jalen Cooper combining for 31 points. Cooper ended up being the game's leading scorer with 21 points on 9-13 from the floor while Berry was close behind tallying 19 points on 6 of 9. Simpson only trailed at 9-8, but never trailed again dominating for all 40 minutes.

SU recorded its largest rebounding advantage of the year at plus 19 and had one of the best team performances of the year with 25 assists on the night. 

On a celebratory senior night, all four Simpson seniors finished in double figures and the Red Hawks sharpshooting freshman, Alex Ondrus had his first double digit night of his career.

After Todd Franklin was hired two years ago, Simpson made a six win improvement in year one under his reigns, and once again in year two another six win improvement, but still have at least two games remaining. It has become very clear that Head Coach Todd Franklin has turned the men's basketball program around in two years and has them competing with some of the best teams in the conference.

Even with a game remaining, Simpson is locked in as the 2nd seed in the Cal Pac Tournament and will face the 3rd seed in the semifinal game on Sunday, Feb. 24th at 7:30 pm in Lancaster, Calif. 

The Red Hawks will play its final home game of the season on Saturday Feb. 16th against Antelope Valley in a matchup between the two top teams in the Cal Pac. Tip off is set for 7:30 pm.