Men's Basketball evens season series with Simpson

Keelhaulers (14-8, 6-2) defeat the Redhawks 71-67 and move into a tie for 2nd place in the Cal Pac Conference

The Keelhaulers lone home conference loss this season was in the Cal Pac opener on December 8th against Simpson University when the Redhawks (14-7, 6-2) jumped out to a 9-0 lead to start the game. Cal Maritime made sure history didn't repeat itself when sophomore Zavier Lucero cut to the basket for a lay up to get Maritime on the board and senior Justin Eisen followed that with a three pointer.

But then a scoring drought hit the Keelhaulers with Simpson running the other way for baskets and Cal Maritime found themselves down 12-5 with 15:18 left first in the half when Head Coach Brendan Rooney called a timeout.

After that time out Lucero hit a shot off the glass on the inbound play, junior Ben Borja scored on a put back, and junior Evan Madill hit a three to tie it at 12-12.

From there Simpson would hold what felt like a continuous seven-point lead to keep the Keelhaulers at arm's length through the middle of the first half.

But Madill would score on a double-pump lay up on the baseline cut it to three with seven minutes left in the half. Three straight three pointers for junior Josh Hauser tied the game at 29-29 with just under four minutes left, and then Freshman Matt Essien hit a three to give Maritime the lead at 32-31 with just over two minutes left in the first half. A layup by Borja would make sure the Keelhaulers kept their one-point lead at halftime as they led 34-33 at the break.

Two three pointers by Eisen to start the second half kept Maritime up by one and Lucero hit a hook shot and got fouled to Maritime up 45-39 with 15:14 left.

A thrilling back-and-forth affair truly kicked into high gear at that point, as the game featured 13 lead changes and eight ties. Junior Darnell Harris' baseline jumper with 12 minutes left put the Keelhaulers up 52-46. But Simpson would cut it back to a one-point game with 11 minutes left and reclaimed the lead with 10:20 remaining. A Harris one-handed jam gave the Keelhaulers another brief lead as Simpson answered with a three pointer to put the home team back up on top.

A Harris lay up from Hauser tied it back up at 61 apiece, and then a Hauser three pointer put Maritime up by three with six minutes left. Borja executed a great spin move in the paint to get around his defender and go under the rim for the reverse scoop shot with just over four minutes left to reclaim the lead after had Simpson tied it up again.

Lucero would hit two free throws to put Maritime up by their final margin of four points with 2:30 left. Borja got put back of an Eisen miss out of his hands with just fractions of a second remaining before the shot clock went off to put the Keelhaulers up by six. Hauser hit 1 of 2 at the free-throw line as the Redhawks were forced to foul to make it a seven-point lead before Simpson hit a 3-point heave to make it 71-67 Keelhaulers with 33 seconds left.

But it was the trademark Cal Maritime defense that closed it out for the Keelhaulers shutting out Simpson over the final half minute and keeping them under 70 points as Eisen hounded the Redhawks best shooter to keep him from getting off a final shot.

Overall the Keelhaulers shot 41% from the field, were 11 of 32 from three-point range, and shot 8 of 10 from the free-throw line. They committed two less turnovers than Simpson with just nine on the night and the Keelhauler bench outscored the Redhawks 27-0.

Hauser led Maritime with 16 points and hauled down seven rebounds. Borja and Eisen each finished with 12 points with Borja grabbing five boards and Eisen going 4 for 11 from downtown while shadowing Simpson's best shooter. Lucero scored nine points and led the team with nine rebounds as well, with Harris chipping in eight points and five rebounds.

UP NEXT: The Keelhaulers return home on Thursday, January 31 to take on La Sierra University at 7:30 p.m.