THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Senior Devon Lewis dropped 26 points en route to a commanding 81-65 Kingsmen victory against UC Santa Cruz on Saturday night. 

Lewis scored more than 20 points for the third time in four games. He shot 57% (8-14) from the field and 63% (5-8) from behind the three-point line. 

As a team, the Kingsmen had more bench points (35-26), rebounds (38-35), assists (12-9), and steals (10-7), and fewer turnovers (11-17) than the Banana Slugs.

It was all Cal Lutheran all game, as they led for more than 38 of the game's 40 minutes. The Kingsmen jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead, but a back-and-forth led to them briefly being overtaken 10-9. This would end up being the Slugs' final lead of the game. 

The Kingsmen held a convincing 38-21 lead at the half. They didn't miss a beat in the second half, going on a 23-10 run to give them a 30-point lead, their largest of the game. The Slugs never cut the deficit to fewer than 16 in the second half, the margin when the final buzzer sounded. 

When asked how he felt his team bounced back after last week's loss, head coach Russell White said, "Defensive effort was significantly better tonight, which is very satisfying and necessary."

The Kingsmen open SCIAC play at 7 p.m. Wednesday against Pomona-Pitzer in the third of four straight games at Gilbert Arena. 

Key Stats:
Devon Lewis - 26 PTS, 4 REB, 1 AST
Jake Martin - 10 PTS, 2 REB, 2 AST, 3 STL
Nick Attanasio - 7 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST, 2 STL