Keelhaulers clinch playoff spot with win in Redding

Men's Basketball defeated the Simpson Redhawks 76-72 by coming back from a 20-point deficit in the second half Thursday night. The Keelhaulers (17-10, 8-5 Cal Pac) guaranteed themselves at least the third seed in the conference tournament held in Vallejo February 24-27.

The Keelhaulers did well enough at executing one of their main mantras by passing up good shots for better ones to build an early lead, but they would need to take that mantra to the next level to pull off one the greatest comebacks in the program's history.

Mike Meserole hit a three pointer to give the Keelhaulers their first lead at 9-6. The senior hit a tear-drop shot in the paint to make it 11-8, before a three pointer by sophomore Josh Hauser made it 14-8 just inside the 12-minute mark.

Meserole of Galt, Calif. again scored in lane for the Keelhauler's first double-digit lead of the night at 23-12 with nine minutes left in the half. A 12-point lead with seven minutes left was dwindled down to six at the half by the Simpson Redhawks, as the Keelhaulers offense went a little cold.

Cal Maritime shot only 38% from the field in the first half but kept Simpson to just 33%. The cold spell continued early in the second half, along with Simpson turning rebounds into fast breaks. Simpson took the lead before many had returned to their seats from the intermission, and the Keelhaulers were down 43-33 just five minutes into the second half.

"They were getting offensive boards, transition buckets and speeding us up, which led to their run," Head Coach Brendan Rooney said. "We weren't as passionate defensively as we were in the first half."

The Simpson lead would balloon to 56-36 before Hauser broke the scoring drought with a layup. A three by senior Phil Randles of Fresno, Calif. led to the Redhawks calling a time out, sensing Maritime was gaining some momentum.

Back-to-back three pointers from sophomore Donovin Townsend cut the lead to single digits at 58-50 with nine minutes left in the game. Sophomore Evan Madill made it 58-53 with eight minutes left and hit another three on the next possession to make it 58-56.

Madill then stole the ball away from from a Redhawk player but missed a three pointer that would have given Maritime the lead. Instead Hauser tied it at 58-58 with layup, and drew a foul to complete a 22-2 run. He'd hit the free throw to put Maritime up by one with 6:54 to go, finally reclaiming the lead they lost early on in the half.

"We started to fly around to every 50-50 ball, attacking the lob from the backside," Rooney said. "Then we started sharing the ball on offense. We didn't settle for a good shot or a great shot, we took the best shot each possession. The energy, effort and togetherness shown by this team was tremendous."

Madill stayed hot and hit two more threes in a row to extend the lead to 65-60. Hauser would put them 67-60 with just over four minutes to go, but Simpson would go on a run of their own to tie it at 69-69 with 1:49 remaining.

With Maritime up 71-69, Kyle Price of Rocklin, Calif. swatted a shot in the lane, followed by a pair of free throws by Madill to make it 73-69 with 11 seconds to go. Townsend of Modesto, Calif. iced the game with two more free throws, securing the 76-72 win.

"You can't say enough about the job Evan Madill and Donovin Townsend did tonight off the bench, along with Josh Hauser who played the last 17-plus minutes of that game." Rooney said. "The five guys that were out there during our 33-4 run played with energy and desire. They stuck together through adversity, and guys who have been working their tail off every day in practice waiting for their opportunity got it and ran with it."

Cal Maritime shot 54% from the field in the second half to finish at 45% for the game. Simpson also heated up in the second half to shoot 51%, but the Keelhaulers did just enough to come out ahead. Cal Maritime won the rebound battle by four and were a plus two in turnovers.

"It isn't over until the clock hits zero," Madill said. "We huddled at midcourt, knew how much we were down and what it was going to take. So, we fought and scrapped our way back into it. We had a mindset to win every possession both on offense and defense, and we did."

Madill of Wallace, Calif. finished with 17 points to lead the Keelhaulers going 5 of 10 from the field, including 5 of 9 from three-point range.

"I give all the credit to my teammates for getting me open and finding me," Madill said. "In return, I was going to make the shot for them"

Hauser from Thousand Oaks, Calif. scored 16 points on the night, and led the team at the free-throw line by going 4 for 5 from the charity stripe. Price, Townsend and Meserole all finished with 10 points, while Price added eight rebounds and four blocked shots to lead the Keelhaulers.

"I've never been a part of something like that before," Townsend said. "That unit clicked."

The Keelhaulers have a shot at finishing second in the Cal Pac Conference if they defeat PUC on Saturday and UC Merced loses. But that may not matter much as the matchup is already set with the Bobcats on Cal Maritime's campus for next weekend. UC Merced defeated PUC on Thursday night, and the Pioneers and Redhawks remain tied at 6-7 for the fourth seed, with Simpson owning the season tiebreaker.

UP NEXT: Men's Basketball will travel to Angwin, Calif. to take on the PUC Pioneers. The Keelhaulers would eliminate PUC from playoff contention with a victory. Tip off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. on PUC's Senior Night.