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The College of the Redwoods men’s basketball team opened the Santa Rosa tournament with a big night from downtown on the way to beating Pasadena City College 74-69 on Thursday night.

In a highly-entertaining game of basketball, the Corsairs hit six 3-pointers in the first five minutes to open up an early 15-point lead.

They would finish with 16 3s on the night.

However, the Pasadena men would come storming back and carried a seven-point lead (39-32) into the break.

But the CR men responded in the second half and outscored the No. 20 team in the state 42-30 to secure the win.

“What an incredible basketball game,” CR head coach Ryan Bisio said after the game. “The swings were so volatile and intense. It may have been wildly entertaining from a fan’s perspective, but as a coach I still feel kind of queasy.”

Bisio was happy with the way his players responded to such a challenging game.

“The heart, resiliency, passion and creativity of our guys was fully showcased tonight,” he added. “We grew up in real time and displayed such an inspiring fight.”

Brandon Lucas finished with a team-high 22 points for CR, including six 3s, while teammate Mason Mottashed continued to impress and added 14 points.

“Brandon Lucas entered that flow state tonight” his coach said. “His shooting, playmaking and floor game were oozing with confidence. We all fed off it.”

It was another good test for the Corsairs, who have faced three quality high-ranked teams in their last three games.

“Pasadena is finely tuned, very well coached and has a stable of high-level athletes and basketball players,” Bisio said. “The way they fought back after our early surge was stunning.”

The Corsairs (10-4) will continue tournament play against Santa Rosa (7-3) on Friday night at 8.