THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Four Kingsmen scored double-digits, led by Austin Cole's 15, but No. 5 Williams College was too much for Cal Lutheran as the Ephs defeated the Kingsmen, 82-71, Saturday inside Gilbert Arena on the final day of the Cal Lutheran Tournament.
Williams' James Heskett scored a game-high 29 points to lead the Ephs (9-2). Het shot 9-of-15 from the field and 5-for-10 from long range. Bobby Casey recorded six rebounds and Cole Teal tallied five assists.
With the loss, Cal Lutheran dropped to 2-6. This was only CLU's second loss by more than double-digits. The other four losses have all been by seven points or less.
After Cole's 15, KJ Moffett was right behind him with 14. He added four rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block.
Kyle Ferreira and Blake Miles made it four Kingsmen in double-digits as they scored 13 and 10, respectively. Ferreira had a game-high eight rebounds and a team-high five assists. Miles tallied four rebounds two assists and two blocks.
Michael Wadsworth came off the bench to score seven points for the Violet and Gold. He added two rebounds and two assists. Palmer Chaplin made both threes he took and finished with six points, two rebounds and one assist.
Both teams shot really well from the field and both finished the game over 50-percent. Williams finished 40.6-percent from three-point range while the Kingsmen were at 36-percent. The Achilles heel for the Kingsmen was from the free-throw line as CLU went 10-for-19 for 52.6-percent.
The teams were neck-and-neck to start the game as the score went back and forth. The Kingsmen took the early lead as Miles made a layup to make it 10-6 with 14:54 left in the half. The Ephs would keep it close in the first A few possessions later, Chaplin hit a three with 12:14 left and CLU had an 18-14 lead.
Cole gave the Violet and Gold their biggest lead of the half as he hit a three for the 31-18 lead. After a Williams timeout, the Ephs went on a 12-2 run to cut the lead to three, 33-30. The Kingsmen answered the run with one of their own and were back up eight, 38-30. Ferreira made the final shot of the half, a three-pointer to give CLU a 41-35 lead.
In the second half, the Ephs slowly chipped away at the lead. With the score tied at 53, the teams would exchange baskets and after a pair of free-throws from Cole, Cal Lutheran was up 57-56. Williams then went on a 6-0 run and took a 62-57 lead.
The Kingsmen wouldn't back down and a little bit later a three from Wadsworth brought it back to a one possession game, 65-62. Two more free throws from Cole cut the lead to one with seven minutes left in the game.
Every time the Kingsmen would get close, the Ephs would string some points together. Williams went on an 8-2 run and took a 73-66 lead with 4:36 left in the game. With 2:22 left, Moffett made a layup to bring the score back to a two-possession game, but that was as close as the Kingsmen would get. The Ephs made their free-throws down the stretch and won 82-71.
Cal Lutheran is back at it Monday as they welcome Chapman to Gilbert Arena for a SCIAC matchup at 7 p.m.
Box Score: No. 5 WC 82, CLU 71
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
