MARIETTA, Ohio – Cal Lutheran men's basketball (2-0, 0-0 SCIAC) shot the lights out in their second of a three-game trip to Ohio on Friday evening, defeating Manchester (0-2, 0-0 HCAC) 107-93. The Kingsmen connected on 16 three-pointers in the first half alone, opening a 68-52 lead at halftime and riding that cushion to the end.

The Spartans took a 17-12 lead after their fifth three-pointer in the first 4+ minutes of the game. Manchester also had an impressive showing from deep in the first half with nine deep-balls, but its early five-point lead proved to be its largest of the game.

The Kingsmen fought back, and the rest of the first half went back-and-forth with both teams scoring at will. A putback layup for Manchester made it 50-47 in favor of Cal Lutheran, but then the Kingsmen went on an 18-5 run to end the half. Three three-pointers from Ryder Mjoen, giving him five in the opening 20 minutes, fueled the run. A backdoor layup from Josh DeVore off a feed from Tony Angelo put Cal Lutheran up 16 heading into the break.

Some quick free throws and baskets from Matthew Verkamp to begin the second half stretched the Kingsmen lead to 79-62 with 15 minutes remaining. Interestingly, a Makaio Morphy three-pointer was part of that early run, and it was the only make from beyond the arc for Cal Lutheran in the second half.

Still, the Kingsmen were able to retain their lead throughout the remainder of the game behind physical defense and quality free-throw shooting, going 12/12 from the charity stripe in the second half and 16/17 (94.1%) in the game.

A Spartans basket cut the deficit to six with just under six minutes left to give Cal Lutheran a scare, but the Kingsmen would steadily increase their lead from there to win comfortably, 107-93.

Verkamp led Cal Lutheran with 21 points (6/15 FG, 8/8 FT), adding five rebounds and two steals. Aidan Crawford put up another strong scoring performance with 18 points (6/11 FG, 4/4 FT), two threes, four rebounds, a block and a steal.

Off the bench, Mjoen sank five threes in six attempts for 15 points. Jaden Young contributed 13 points (5/7 FG, 3/4 3FG) and two assists. Hunter Marumoto knocked down three triples on five attempts, adding three boards and two dimes.

Point guards Ze'ev Remer and Angelo each had quality performances. Remer dropped nine points to go along with team-highs of seven assists and six rebounds. Angelo recorded a game-high four steals, adding nine points (4/5 FG, 1/2 3FG), six assists, and five rebounds in an all-around showing.

As a team, the Kingsmen shot 37/68 (54.4%) from the field and 17/38 (44.7%) from deep in an efficient offensive performance.

Cal Lutheran moves on to face the host school, Marietta, in the title game of the Marietta Shrine Tournament tomorrow evening at 8pm local time, 5pm Pacific time.