The loss had to sting the Oaks that much more because it came at a point when it appeared they had gotten past their early season inability to close opponents out. Menlo entered having won five of its previous six games - all in the Cal Pac - but suffered its fourth one-point loss in conference play and blew a double-digit lead once again.

Menlo came out of the gate looking like the hottest team in the conference, sinking 16-of-28 shots in the opening half - including 5-of-9 from deep - to take a 47-29 advantage into the locker room. One can hardly fault the Oaks for thinking its lead was safe when they had defeated the same Simpson team 84-60 less than a month before.

Unfortunately for Menlo, the second half belonged to the Red Hawks.

Simpson turned the table on the Oaks, shooting 56.3 percent from the floor while limiting Menlo to just 21 attempts after halftime. The Oaks did themselves no favor by making only 6-of-12 free throws in the half and missing nine times throughout the game, which should serve as plenty of fodder on its own for the coaching staff entering next week's conference tournament.

Menlo had no answer for Simpson's Justin Sparks, who scored a game-high 25 points and also grabbed 14 rebounds. Andrew Schritter and Jason Stubbs each netted 15 for the Red Hawks.

Julian Harris scored 22 points and made 5-of-8 3-pointers for the Oaks. Tim Kees netted 11 points and Ryan Dung chipped in 10. Nick McCullar finished just shy of a double-double with nine points and as many rebounds. Patrick Greene scored five points with seven rebounds, Tyler Rajnus scored six points with five rebounds, and Dejon Grant netted six points.

Menlo finishes the regular season 6-6 in the Cal Pac and 10-15 overall. The Oaks were locked into the fourth spot in the final conference standings all week and will host a Cal Pac Tournament opening round game on Wednesday. Simpson ends up 4-8 in conference and 8-19 overall.