Redlands men and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women claim SCIAC basketball tournament titles
The Redlands men won the SCIAC Tournament title for the first time since 2013, while the C-M-S women prevailed for the first time since 2017.
Black News 
There’s no place like home. And home, in this particular instance, is Currier Gymnasium.
The University of Redlands men’s basketball team made 12 baskets from 3-point range and shot 57.9% from the field overall en route to a 93-64 win over Chapman University in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament championship game Sunday.
The Bulldogs (23-4) won the SCIAC Tournament title for the first time since 2013 and improved to 13-0 at Currier Gymnasium this season.
Redlands earned the No. 17 seed for the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Bulldogs face Landmark Conference champion Susquehanna (16-12) in the first round of the tournament Friday at Hood College in Frederick, Md. Redlands advanced to the Elite Eight last season.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (22-4) earned an at-large berth into the Division III Tournament and plays Northern Athletics Conference champion Aurora (23-5) on Friday at Wisconsin-Lacrosse.
Redlands had five double-digit scorers Sunday, including a game-high 18 points from Chozen Amadi. Lucas Gordon had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while tournament MVP Jake Hlywiak had 14 points. Omari Ferguson had 12 and Jhace Boston added 10.
The Bulldogs never trailed in the game and held a lead for all but 41 seconds early in the game,
The score was tied at 5 in the opening minutes, but Redlands pieced together a 19-6 run over the next 6 1/2 minutes to take control of the game. Amadi and Gordon each scored five points during that stretch. Chapman (18-9) kept things close and only trailed 43-34 at halftime.
Redlands made 15 of 29 shots (51.7%) in the first half. The Bulldogs were even better from the field in the second half at 60.7% (17-28).
The lead was 17 points with 6 1/2 minutes remaining, but Redlands sealed the win with an 18-4 run over the next 5 minutes.
Jake Heberle and Cruz Billings scored 17 points apiece for Chapman.
Hlywiak scored 19 points in a 100-76 semifinal win over Occidental University on Friday night. He made nine 3-pointers in the tournament.
C-M-S WOMEN WIN
Caleigh Edwards and Katie Resendiz combined to score 41 points, 19 of those coming in the fourth quarter, as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women’s team knocked off California Lutheran University 69-58 in the SCIAC Tournament championship game Saturday in Thousand Oaks.
The Athenas (20-7) claimed their first SCIAC Tournament title since 2017. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps will open play in the NCAA Division III Tournament on Friday against Northwest Conference champion Whitman (20-7) at Hardin-Simmons in Abilene, Texas.
Edwards scored a game-high 23 points and also led C-M-S with 11 rebounds. She scored 10 points in the fourth quarter and also made all 11 of her attempts from the free-throw line. Resendiz finished with 18 points, half of them in the final period, and also had eight rebounds.
C-M-S led by only one point following the opening quarter of play, but the Athenas outscored Cal Lutheran 16-4 during the second period to take a 30-17 lead at halftime. Resendiz scored six points in that quarter, while Tanya Ghai and Payton Sugar each sank a 3-pointer.
Cal Lutheran (22-5) cut the deficit to 44-43 early in the fourth quarter, but C-M-S scored 25 points during the final period to seal the victory. The Athenas made 28 of 32 shots at the free-throw line, while Cal Lutheran was only 9 for 11 at the charity stripe.
Ghai also had a double-double for C-M-S with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
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