Simpson Snaps Keelhaulers Win Streak

The defeat snapped Cal Maritime's four-game winning streak. The loss drops the third-place Keelhaulers two games back of first-place Antelope Valley with seven games left in the regular season.

The Keelhaulers lost 83-76, and head coach Brendan Rooney tipped his cap to the Redhawks.

"They're a good team, a well-coached team," Rooney said. "We got off to a great start. I think we just let off a little bit. And give Simpson credit, they responded, they had foul trouble and they played through it, and they had some guys step up big time."

The Keelhaulers (13-8, 4-3) led 9-0 and 14-3 out of the gate but Simpson responded. In the second half, Cal Maritime pushed the lead to eight points but the Red Hawks (6-11, 2-5) made that lead evaporate as well.

"(Simpson) did a good job of speeding us up and we let it take us out of our game," Rooney said. "We took some quick shots when we know we can get some better ones. We need to take the best shots possible."

Despite the lapses, the Keelhaulers still had an excellent chance to tie the game, down just 78-76 with about a minute left in the contest. Daniel Solis found Vallejo's Zavier Lucero cutting to the hoop but the shot rimmed out. Simpson iced the game from there, making three of four at the foul line.

Phil Randles of Fresno, Calif. led the Keelhaulers with a team-high 18 points. Randles had 12 of his team's first 22 points to begin the game. Lucero finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

Solis of Concord, Calif. added 14 points, hitting four 3-pointers, three of those in the second half, including one with 2:26 left in the game that made it 77-74. Kyle Price added a put-back with 1:34 left to make it a 78-76 game. Price finished with 14 points and added six boards.

It was the first win at Cal Maritime in Men's Basketball since 2008.

UP NEXT: Cal Maritime is back at home next Saturday to host UC Merced, the second-place team in the conference.