LANCASTER, Calif. - The men's basketball team faced off against the red-hot 12-2 Pioneers in Lancaster, CA tonight but fell in a hard-fought game, 72-92.
The Red Hawks faced an early deficit after a few converted Pioneer free throws to open up the game.
Parker Martens got the Red Hawks on the board after a converted layup followed by a
Drey Ubas mid-range jumper to give Simpson the early lead.
The Pioneers and Red Hawks exchanged buckets in a back-and-forth early first half.
UAV would extend its largest lead of the first half to 17 points with less than three minutes left to play.
But the Red Hawks would answer back and cut into the Pioneers lead before the half.
Akin Branco would have a monster last couple of minutes as he accounted for the team's nine points and finished with a huge dunk to end the half.
Simpson would go into the half down 42-31 as they chipped away from the Pioneers 17-point lead.
Branco would lead the team with 11 points while shooting 5-9 from the floor.
Parker Martens followed with seven points to go along with four rebounds.
Simpson would come out firing as Martens would stay hot as he opened the second half with a three-pointer to cut the lead to eight.
However, the Pioneers would show why they are undefeated in conference play as they would swell its lead and take the game by a final score of 92-72.
The Red Hawks who scratched and clawed throughout the game dominated the Pioneers by outscoring there bench 35-15.
Akin Branco,
Sam Shields,
Derek Gorden, and
Kevin Robello played a vital role off the bench as they accounted for a combined 35 points.
Parken Martens would be the leading scorer and rebounder on the night with 15 points and eight boards.
With the loss, Simpson falls to 3-3 in conference play as they will look to rebound on the road against Park-Gilbert University on January 11th at 7:30 PM.
