PASADENA, Calif. - Cal Lutheran exploded for a season high in points in a 96-48 rout of Illinois Tech on Saturday during the first round of the SCIAC Classic held at Caltech. All the more impressive was only one Kingsmen scored in double figures as 17 of 18 players scored at least a basket against the Scarlet Hawks.

Cal Lutheran controlled for the get-go, rushing out to an 11-2 lead after three-pointers from Guy Lynott and Michael Palmer. After a fast start offensively, CLU continued to extend its lead throughout the half with strong defense. Anthony Loss got a lay-up with 10:22 left in the first half but Cal Lutheran wouldn't allow another Scarlet Hawks basket until the 4:39 mark while building its lead to 30-14.

With a little over three minutes left in the half, Arik Smith had a highlight play when he stole the ball on the defensive end and raced down the floor before slamming in a dunk. The big play started a 17-2 Kingsmen run to close the first half.

The Kingsmen picked up right where they left off in the second half with Corey Quintana, Martin Flowers and Smith all sinking three-pointers and put CLU up 63-27 with 13:27 left in the game.

Cal Lutheran's bench got into the action later in the half with Connor McGuire scoring four straight points and Lanaki Apele and Jacob Dawe each getting a layup as the CLU lead swelled to 50 at 80-30 with 7:44 on clock.

The game closed with Samuel Cirillo sinking his first three-pointer and Henry Leff scoring his first points of the season.

Smith was the lone Kingsmen in double figures with 14 points to go along with four steals. Coltrane Powdrill narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds. Quintana also had nine points while Dan Wade and Jeremy Sulker-Hall each had eight. Apele led with four assists to go along with six points and Collin Knudsen continued to fill the stat sheet in a variety of ways, finishing with six points, five rebounds two assists and two steals.

Loss led the Scarlet Hawks with 18 points and four rebounds.

Cal Lutheran (6-1) will look to continue its strong start to the season when it takes on UC Santa Cruz for the second time already, facing the Banana Slugs on Saturday, Dec. 15 at 1:00pm inside of Gilbert Arena. Illinois Tech and Caltech will play after at 3:00pm.

Box Score: CLU 96 IT 48
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