PRESCOTT, Ariz. - The men's basketball team dropped a close one to Cal Pac rival Embry-Riddle, 62-59.
The game opened up with a
Drey Ubas three-pointer to give Simpson the early lead followed by a
Kyle Brennon three-ball.
The red Hawks and Eagles exchanged buckets back and forth until the Eagles grew its largest lead of the night to 11 points with six minutes left to the half.
Simpson created a 6-0 run to end the first half in thanks to buckets by
Derek Gorden and
Sam Shields to pull within three points as they headed into the half down 29-32.
Gorden had a solid first half with a team-high nine points while shooting 4-8 from the floor.
A jump shot by
Kyle Brennon to open the second half of play pulled Simpson within one.
However, the Eagles created separation and padded its lead back up to 12 points late in the second half with six and a half minutes left to play.
Simpson played comeback and reeled off an astounding 17-5 run to tie the game late in the second half with under thirty seconds to play.
Buckets by
Parker Martens, Ubas, and
Derek Gorden help prompt the late comeback. Gorden scored 11 out of his team's final 17 points.
Martens hit the two most important free throws of the night with 18 seconds left to play to tie the game at 59.
Unfortunately, the Eagles had the last laugh as they hit a layup as time expired to hold off the late Red Hawk rally, 61-59.
Derek Goden had a team-high 20 points on the night to go along with five rebounds and three steals.
Drey Ubas trailed Gorden with 12 points of his own for the night.
With the loss, Simpson falls out of the playoff picture as they are now 1 GB La Sierra for the final playoff spot.
The boys will return home this Tuesday to take on UC Merced at 7:30 PM.
