PORTLAND, Ore. – In his debut game,
Darius Redrick dropped a game high 37 points, leading the Multnomah University men's basketball team to a season opening win over Bethesda University, 107-102, on Jim Skagen Court on Wednesday night.
Redrick, a junior from Junction City, Kan., went 11-of-14 from the field with three 3-pointers while adding 12-of-14 from the free throw line.
Trailing the majority of the first half, the Lions (1-0) battled back from a 10 point deficit with two minutes remaining in the opening period. Senior guard
Michael Escobedo started the rally, finishing a three point play before adding another free throw. A fast break layup by senior
Trever Cooley in the last second of the half brought the game to 56-54 in favor of Bethesda heading into the break.
Sophomore
Ben Grandle picked up where he left off last season from the three-point line, connecting on seven attempts to finish with 24 points for MU while
Ezekiel Martin tallied 14 points and a team high eight rebounds.
For Bethesda, Jarrell Tate led the team with 21 points followed by Robert Bush with 18, and Buddha Boyd with 13 points. Bush finished with a game high nine rebounds.
Tied 67-67, Bethesda started to breakaway, building a seven point lead with 6:30 left on the clock. Threes by both Grandle and Redick followed by another basket from Redrick brought the game back within one point. Both teams went back and forth before a layup by Martin gave the Lions the lead for the remainder of the game with just over three and a half to play.
Redrick added a game high eight assists while knocking down 9-of-11 free throws in the last minute of the game.
Moving forward, the Lions have a busy weekend ahead, hosting New Hope Christian on Friday night and Saturday morning before an exhibition game at the University of Portland on Saturday night.
