ASHLAND, Va. — It was a defensive battle as Cal Lutheran men's basketball fell to No. 14 Randolph-Macon 60-51 on Sunday afternoon. 

For the third straight game, the Kingsmen have held their opponent to under 65 points. The defense has thrived only allowing other opponents to 63 and 53 points.

Tommy Griffitts led the way with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Nine Kingsmen scored in all with Ze'ev Remer having nine, Desi Burrage with eight, and Brock Susko with seven. 

The Kingsmen took the early lead and were up 7-2 after four minutes of action. The Yellow Jackets fought back and took an 8-7 lead with 12 minutes remaining in the half. The score remained close as Randolph-Macon had a slight advantage at half 25-22. 

The second started with the teams exchanging buckets. The score was tied four times in the first few minutes before the Yellow Jackets took the lead. They pushed their lead to 40-33 with 12:19 remaining in the game. 

The Kingsmen eventually tied the game at 40 but then fell behind 45-40. The Kingsmen continued to fight but could not overcome the deficit and fell to the ranked team in a hard-fought battle.