REDDING, Calif. - The men's basketball squad finished its first tournament of the year strong with a 66-54 nonconference victory over Pacific Union College tonight.
The Red Hawks drew first blood on a layup by Sargent Jeffrey to begin the game. The first half proved to be a roller-coaster battle between the Pioneers and Red Hawks that saw seven lead changes.
The Pioneers took a three-point lead late in the first half on a jumper by Jermaine Patton. But the Red Hawks responded by outscoring the Pioneers 11-2 to close out the final four minutes of the first half. A layup by Ameere Britton pulled Simpson within one as they reeled off 11 unanswered points. Yanis Aldegeur added five points while Nick Stone added four points following the layup by Britton to extend their lead to eight points just before the half.
The Pioneers broke the streak as Daniel Jones converted a late layup with seconds left before the half to make it a 36-30 Simpson lead at halftime.
The Red Hawks came out of the half with back-to-back buckets by Jeffrey and Stone to extend Simpson's lead to double-digits. The Pioneers countered with an 8-1 run to pull within two at 41-39. However, the Red Hawks created separation as they mounted their largest lead of the night—15 points—on a layup by Britton with six and a half minutes left in regulation.
The deficit proved too big for the Pioneers as the Red Hawks closed out the Oxford Suites Invitational for a nonconference victory over the Pioneers.
Nick Stone and Ameere Britton led the Red Hawks in scoring with 13 points each as they combined for 13 rebounds, with Britton posting a team-high seven rebounds.
Sargent Jeffrey managed a strong performance within limited minutes as he notched seven rebounds to go along with seven points.
Kellen Torrey had quite the game off the bench as he posted 10 points while shooting a near-perfect 3-4 from the floor and 4-4 from the line.
The Red Hawks are back in action on November 5th as they take on future Cascade opponents Corban University at 7:30 PM in Salem, OR, and Bushnell University on November 6th at 4:00 PM in Eugene, OR.
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