Men’s Basketball Ready for 2017-18

Posted: Nov 14, 2017

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The Cal Lutheran men's basketball team finished the 2016-17 season in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (SCIAC) tournament championship game and the Kingsmen are looking to make it back there for the 2017-18 season.

First year head coach, Tim Fusina, has revamped the roster. The team may look somewhat different, on the offense and defense, but the 15 student-athletes still have the same mindset as previous years.

Six returners will be joined by nine newcomers with a goal of winning a SCIAC Championship. The Kingsmen have one senior in the lineup as KJ Moffett is back for his final campaign. He played in 26 of the 27 games last season. He averaged 6.6 points per game and was efficient as he made 63 percent of his shots. He added 2.4 rebounds per game. He also accumulated 20 steals, 13 assists and six blocks.

The junior class is made up of the of returners Austin Cole, Kyle Ferreira and transfer Michael Wadsworth. Cole was the third leading scorer for the Kingsmen a year ago. He played in all 27 games and led the team with 62 three-point field goals made. He scored 13.6 ppg and added 2.2 rpg.

Ferreira returns to the CLU after scoring 8.5 points a year ago. He chipped in with 85 rebounds, 36 assists and 20 steals. Wadsworth (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) comes to CLU from Sacramento City College where he played two seasons.

Palmer Chaplin, Blake Miles and Lukas Swidler return for the sophomore class and transfer Brandon Danziger (Woodcliff, N.J.) joins them. Miles was the fifth leading scorer for last year's squad with 9.0 ppg. He was also a workhorse on the glass as he led the team with 6.4 rpg and tallied the most blocks on the team with 19. Chaplain will look for an extended role in 2017-18. Danziger transferred from Salve Regina University and will look to make an impact immediately.

Freshmen Connor Cole (Redondo Beach, Calif.), TJ Fagót (Murrieta, Calif.), Rob Hunter (West Hills, Calif.), Jerry Lawson (Honolulu, Hawaii), Jarrett Powers (San Jose, Calif.), Cole Thomas (Inglewood, Calif.) and Randy White (Van Nuys, Calif.) will put on the Violet and Gold for the first time.

After two exhibitions against Westmont and Pepperdine, the Kingsmen officially open the season Wednesday, Nov. 15, at home verses UC Santa Cruz at 7 p.m.