THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The Cal Lutheran men's basketball team added another win on Wednesday night, weathering constant pressure from La Verne to secure an 87-80 victory over the Leopards, bringing their six-year win streak against them to 11 games.
Despite the seemingly close final score and the sustained effort by the Leopards, the Kingsmen were in control of the game from the opening tip to the final buzzer, matching La Verne's persistence with timely shot-making and efficient playmaking.
The game started out tightly contested through the first ten minutes before
Aidan Crawford made a layup to spark a 10-5 run. La Verne managed to cut the deficit down to seven leading to the break as Cal Lutheran carried a 43-36 lead.
La Verne didn't have its first lead of the game until early in the second half when a layup made it 44-43, but the Leopards only maintained it for roughly twenty seconds as
Andrew Pipersburgh made a layup off an assist from
Cody Shen. After that basket, Cal Lutheran would never relinquish its lead for the rest of the contest, having the advantage for the final 17 minutes of action.
It wasn't until the score reached 52-50 midway through the half that the game blew wide open with a 27-12 run by the Kingsmen, who culminated a 17 point lead. The Leopards went on their own 12-3 stretch to come back within seven points, but it wasn't enough to get the win as Cal Lutheran made several timely shots to finish the game ahead 87-80.
Crawford had an extremely efficient night with 17 points on 70 percent shooting, while also adding seven rebounds and four assists.
Jaden Young contributed 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including three three-pointers. Senior
Ze'ev Remer, who was honored in a pregame ceremony, showed why he was honored throughout the contest with a scrappy defensive performance of two steals and a block. He also contributed six assists with just one turnover.
Cal Lutheran capitalized on La Verne's 14 turnovers, coming up with 21 points that helped the Kingsmen keep control of the game. Additionally, the Leopards only made six three-point shots out of their 20 attempts, shooting just 27.2 percent from beyond the arc in the second half.
This win lifts the Kingsman above .500 to a 12-11 overall record and 7-7 mark in SCIAC play. They will head to Pormona-Pitzer on Wednesday, February 18 to rematch with the Sagehens at 7 p.m.
