Keelhaulers defeated by Simpson’s buzzer-beater in 2022 finale

REDDING, Calif. – Even though Simpson finished higher shooting percentages from the floor, at the line and from three in Saturday's Cal Pac matchup at the James M. Grant Center, Cal Maritime dominated the paint by outscoring its opponent, 52-36, and tripled the Red Hawks' second chance points total by an 18-6 margin and positioned itself to head home with a win until it suffered a bit of bad luck at the buzzer.

The Keelhaulers also did an outstanding job protecting the ball, compared to their counterparts, since they only committed nine turnovers compared to Simpson's 13, and won the rebound battle by one.

Those are the reasons why CSUM was poised to leave Redding with a victory until the Red Hawks hit a three with no time remaining to turn their two-point deficit into a 78-77 result to edge the Keelhaulers in each team's 2022 finale.

Cal Maritime will enter its upcoming three-game trip through Arizona, which starts Thursday at Benedictine Mesa, with a 3-8 overall and 3-2 Cal Pac record. By stealing a win from the Keelhaulers, Simpson will continue its season with records of 6-8 and 3-4.

Lunden Taylor was brutally efficient all evening long by canning 12 of 15 shots from the floor, 1 of 2 attempts from distance and 2 of 3 free throws to lead all scorers with 27 points.  Miles Pennington added another 18 and Everett Perrot ended his night with 10 points and a team-high five boards — a total also posted by Taylor and Pennington.    

Up by three with less than a minute remaining, thanks to a free throw from Lee Jones Jr., Simpson tied the score at 75 until Perrot was rewarded on the ensuing possession, thanks to his aggressive play, which earned him a trip to the line with 13 ticks on the clock.

Perrot made Simpson pay for its mistake by calmly canning both free throws to give his team a two-point lead heading into the Red Hawks' final possession of the evening.

The Keelhaulers' defense stepped up in crunch time by forcing Simpson to wait until the last possible minute to throw up an attempt to tie or win the game — a shot that somehow found the bottom of the net to hand the Keelhaulers a hard-luck result.

Don't let CSUM's records fool you: This was the second time this season a roster filled with newcomers were edged by one point; four points was the difference in another pair of losses and a five of the team's eight were decided by a two-point margin.

The Keelhaulers' first opportunity to bounce back from Saturday's result will take place on Thursday, January 6 in a 6 p.m. PT Cal Pac matchup at Benedictine Mesa.