BOX SCORE

HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, Va. -- Sophomore guard Travis Stickney (Mount Pleasant, SC) scored a career-high and game-high 30 points, adding six rebounds along with a career-high and game-high seven assists, while sophomore guard Santana Lynch (Dallas, TX) added 14 points and eight rebounds, but (16)Hampden-Sydney College dropped a thrilling 91-90 non-conference men's basketball decision at home to (11)University of Redlands (CA) in the H-SC Holiday Classic presented by Elder, Friedman & Allen on Saturday evening on the new Tony Shaver Court in Diaz Arena at the renovated Kirby Field House. The well-played and closely-played contest between NCAA Division III Top 20 teams featured 27 lead-changes and 20 ties throughout, including 48-48 at halftime, with the second half just as close as Stickney connected on a three-point field goal for a 90-89 lead with 27.8-seconds remaining. However, Lucas Gordon, who scored a team-high 29 points for the visiting Bulldogs, made the game-winning offensive rebound basket with 6.5-seconds on the clock, adding a game-high 10 rebounds, as well. H-SC dropped to 6-3 overall, while Redlands improved to 7-1 overall.

"We got better tonight," said seventh-year head coach Caleb Kimbrough. "Not the ending we wanted, but we were able to execute the game plan and played together. We are learning what we need to do to execute in end of game situations and that is going to help us in the long run."

H-SC and Redlands, ranked No. 16 and No. 11, respectively, in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25, played an opening 20 minutes that included 17 lead-changes and 12 ties … with junior center Alex Cannon (Loganville) opening the scoring with a two-handed offensive rebound slam dunk follow at 18:13, followed quickly by a three-pointer from the visitors at 18:06, and two more three-pointers by the Bulldogs—the latter from Gordon—gave them their largest lead of first half at 9-4 just 3:07 into the contest. The Tigers battled back to lead 16-15 at 14:23 after a layup by sophomore guard Tugg Bizzelle (Baltimore, MD), it was tied at 25-25 following a three-pointer from Stickney at 11:28 and the Garnet & Grey led 30-28 after a three-pointer by Lynch at 9:55. It was tied again at 37-37 following a dunk from Gordon at 5:21, the home team led 45-43 following a layup by sophomore guard Peter Moye (Charlotte, NC) at 2:18 and it was knotted at 48-48 at the intermission after a basket inside from Cannon and a free throw by Bizzelle.

The second half continued almost identical to the first with 10 lead-changes and eight ties … with senior guard Colin Radcliffe (Richlands, NC) opening the period with a three-pointer at 18:41 and H-SC led 55-52 after a layup by Cannon at 16:52. An old-fashioned three-point play by Cam Brown had Redlands ahead 58-55 with 16:08 on the clock, and it remained tightly contested as the Bulldogs took their largest lead of the half at 70-55 after another three-pointer from Gordon at 10:41. Stickney answered with a layup assisted by freshman guard Tyree White (Indian Trail, NC), White followed with a three-pointer of his own and Stickney added a jumper for a 72-70  lead with 9:25 left to play. A three-pointer by Moye had the Tigers in front 83-80 at 4:07, and consecutive driving layups from Stickney gave the Garnet & Grey an 87-85 advantage with 2:02 remaining. A pair of free throws by Jhace Boston tied it at 87-87 with 1:35 left, and a basket down low from Gordon had the visitors ahead 89-87 with under a minute on the clock.

Following a timeout, Stickney connected on his three-pointer from near the home bench for the 90-89 lead at :27.8, and after another timeout, Gordon scored on the offensive rebound basket of a missed layup blocked by Cannon with 6.5-seconds on the clock. A last-second three-point attempt was off the mark for the home team just ahead of the final buzzer, providing for the final one-point margin. Overall, the game remained a two-possession contest from beginning to end ... with the Bulldogs' largest lead at five points and the Tigers' largest lead at three points ... while Redlands led for a total of 14:34 and H-SC led for a total of 14:03 ... and tied for 11:23.

Stickney led H-SC with his career-high and game-high 30 points, adding six rebounds along with a career-high and game-high seven assists—scoring 21 second-half points, including 15 of the team's final 20 points overall. Lynch posted his 14 points and eight rebounds off the bench for the Tigers, scoring 12 first-half points. Cannon and Moye each contributed 10 points with Cannon's total a career-high along with six rebounds and a season-high and game-high four blocks, while Moye added five rebounds and two assists. Bizzelle finished with nine points and two assists, Radcliffe had eight points and White added career-highs of seven points, four rebounds and two assists. H-SC shot a season-high 55% (32-58) from the field, including 39% (9-23) on three-pointers, and a season-high 94% (17-18) at the free throw line—8-8 by Stickney and 6-6 by Lynch.

Gordon led Redlands with his 29 points and game-high 10 rebounds. Boston finished with 18 points off the bench for the Bulldogs, while Omari Ferguson added 10 points. Redlands shot 48% (35-73) from the field, including 36% (14-39) on three-pointers, and 88% (7-8) at the line.

Stickney was named to the All-Classic Team, along with Gordon (MVP) and Boston from Redlands, as well as Zach Rosenthal from Roanoke College and Winston Raford from Wilson (PA) College.

H-SC and Redlands had played last March 14 with the Bulldogs taking an 83-72 win past the Tigers in the third round of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship Sectionals (Sweet 16) at the John A. Paulson Center on the campus of New York University in New York, New York.

H-SC will take a quick break for the Christmas Holiday next week before returning to action at the Emory Holiday Classic on December 29-30 at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. The Tigers will play (25)Maryville (TN) College on Monday, Dec. 29, at 2 p.m., before playing (7)Emory on Tuesday, Dec. 30, at 4 p.m.