REDDING, Calif. - The men's basketball team played its final home game of the season tonight against Park-Gilbert University while celebrating four seniors.
The Buccaneers played spoiler as they edged the Red Hawks 74-72 in OT.
Park jumped out to an early 9-2 lead before the Red Hawks came back to pull within two points after a three-pointer by
Drey Ubas and a bucket by
Parker Martens.
Simpson played catch-up for the entire first half as they never saw the lead but always stayed within striking distance.
Martens closed out the first half with a big three-pointer to pull Simpson within four points as they headed into the half trailing 34-30.
Martens and Ubas led the Red Hawks offense with a combined 20 points.
Four straight points by Martens to open the second half pulled Simpson within two points as they trailed 34-36.
A mid-range jumper by
Sam Shields tied the game at 43 followed by a bucket by
Garrett Streufert to give Simpson its first lead of the game, 45-43.
A back-and-forth tied game came untied with big three-pointers by
Trey Conrad and Ubas in the coming possessions.
The Red Hawks and Buccaneers exchanged buckets back and forth until the very end.
Park held a two-point lead with less than a minute to play before Martens hit the game-tying bucket with just over ten seconds to force overtime.
A low-scoring overtime period set up a thrilling finish as
Sam Shields hit a late layup to pull Simpson within one point, 72-73.
A couple of missed free throws by Park made it a two-point game with Simpson retaining possession on the final play.
However, the Buccaneers defense held off the Red Hawks comeback to seal the 74-72 road victory.
Parker Martens had a season and career-high 26 points and nine rebounds.
Drey Ubas followed with 12 points and
Sam Shields closed out the double-digit performances with 10 points.
Simpson honored four seniors;
Kyle Brennon, Johnny Cruz,
Kevin Robello, and
Garrett Streufert.
The Red Hawks look to finish the year strong as they hit the road to SoCal this week to take on Westcliff University and Saint Katherine University.
