THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - On a day when four seniors were honored prior to tip-off, each one got to play a little extra because a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) battle with Whittier spanned 55 minutes as the team duked it out into triple overtime. The Cal Lutheran men's basketball squad came-from-behind to win, 111-108, and stretched their current win-streak to seven for the second time of the season.
Overtime games this year between CLU and WC were a common occurrence as each meeting needed extra time. The Kingsmen were victorious in both contests to sweep the Poets during the regular season.
In a game that saw huge double-double career performances from Coltrane Powdrill and Arik Smith the pair combined for 71 points, 26 rebounds, 10 assists, six steals and a block. Powdrill poured in 36 with 16 boards and Smith finished with 35 and 10. Also reaching 10 points apiece in the game were Lanaki Apele, Guy Lynott and Connor McGuire. In his final home regular season game, Martin Flowers finished with seven points three assists and a block and John Green tallied three points.
CLU trailed 48-47 going into the break and was within one because of a Smith jumper at the first buzzer. After the intermission, the teams exchanged baskets, but it was the Poets who pulled away, opening a 15-point lead in the second half, setting the stage for the dramatic CLU comeback.
A resilient Kingsmen team chipped away until a missed CLU free-throw landed in the hands of Lynottwho put it away for the first Cal Lutheran lead of the second stanza with 3:20 remaining in regulation. The rest is history as the lead changed numerous times over the final three minutes and nearly ended on a winning buzzer beater for the home team, but the release of the ball on an offensive rebound was seconds late, forcing overtime.
The teams exchanged 10 points in the first five minute period and just scored six apiece in the second OT. The difference came between minutes 50 and 55 as Cal Lutheran outscored Whittier 12-9.
McGuire aided the Kingsmen in reaching the century mark by making a free-throw just 37 seconds into the third OT. Flowers then had a huge and-one before McGuire notched another layup. Powdrill put in five of the final six points of the game for the Violet and Gold with Apele adding a free-throw as well.
Though CLU and WC had identical shooting showings in overtime (7-for-20) and each knocked down a three-pointer, the difference came at the charity stripe where the Kingsmen went 13-for-17 and the Poets converted 10-for-13, which was the ultimate difference maker.
Overall, Whittier shot 37.1 percent from three-point range, pouring in 13 from behind the arc, while overall combining for a slightly better shooting night than Cal Lutheran at 48.1 percent. The Kingsmen grabbed more rebounds than the Poets, holding a 48-44 edge.
Whittier (13-9, 7-6 SCIAC) was led by Andrew Torres with a 22-point, 12-rebound double-double, Eric Jennings with a team-high 31 points and Nick Denusis with 28.
Cal Lutheran (17-4, 11-2) closes out the regular SCIAC season with three road games beginning on Thursday, Feb. 19 at Chapman. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 111, WC 108 (3OT)
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