Alex Maze’s clutch three forces OT at Simpson

REDDING, Calif. – Trailing by eight at halftime of Friday's Cal Pac Conference game at the James M. Grant Center in Redding, California, Cal Maritime started the second half on fire by scoring 12 of the first 14 points to take a 42-40 lead with just over 16 minutes left to play. 

From that point on until the final moments of regulation, a back-and-forth battle ensued with Simpson leading by three, with 34 seconds remaining.

With Cal Maritime looking to play for the final possession, Alex Maze stepped up in crunch time by draining a three that pulled the Keelhaulers even at 64, ultimately forcing another five minutes of action thanks to that clutch shot.

In OT, a three from Chris Herrera gave men's basketball a 70-68 lead with 3:38 remaining until Simpson scored seven of the next nine to lead by three entering the final minute of the extra session.

The Redhawks failed to record another field goal for the rest of the night, but scored their final nine points at the line, out of 10 attempts, to withstand another late Cal Maritime charge to secure an 84-77 victory.

Coming off the bench for the Keelhaulers, Herrera shined throughout his 30 minutes on the floor by scoring 19 points on 7 of 12 shooting overall; the junior guard was unstoppable from distance as he canned 5 of 7 shots and was singlehandedly responsible for nearly half of the Keelhaulers' 11 threes.

Highlighted in the final minute of overtime, Simpson's success from the stripe played a key role in its overall result since it recorded 26 points at the line compared to a CSUM squad that only scored eight by comparison.