THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.– Cal Lutheran struggled in their opening game of Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play, falling 86-51 to the Panthers of Chapman.
"That's a good team," said Head Coach Russell White, coaching in his first career conference game. "It was nice to see the 'Royal Court' in the house, but I wish I would have given them more to cheer about. We need to get healthy and we're focused on Whittier next Saturday."
The visitors were dominant in nearly every facet of the game, shooting an impressive 57.9% from the floor while holding the Kingsmen to just 37.5%. The Panthers also held the advantage on the glass as they out-rebounded CLU 42-23.
Cole Thomas led Cal Lutheran offensively with 14 points on 7-12 shooting while tallying four rebounds. Charlie Lee found his stroke from beyond the arc with three triples to notch nine points on the night. Providing some solid minutes off the bench was Lachlan Hannemann with eight points in his 22 minutes on the floor.
Chapman quickly made their presence felt in the opening minutes as they began the game on an 8-2 run to set the pace. The hosts would climb back into the game, momentarily taking the lead after back-to-back layups from Thomas and a three-pointer by Lee.
However, that would be the only lead of the game for the Kingsmen and the opponent would push their lead to as many as 17 in the first half. Heading into the break, the Panthers would take a comfortable 37-23 lead.
Chapman picked up where they left off and began the second half on a quick 7-0 run to increase their lead to 19 points. Baskets from Hannemann and Thomas would stop the bleeding, but it was short lived as the Panthers would score a couple layups of their own to force a Cal Lutheran timeout.
It was all Panthers the rest of the way, using some fantastic shooting (66.7%) to put the Kingsmen away. CLU only shot 36.7% from the floor and 28.6% from three-point range which eventually lead to their downfall.
Chapman cruised to an 86-51 win after out-scoring Cal Lutheran 49-28 in the second half.
The Kingsmen fall to 1-6 (0-1 SCIAC) and will travel to UC Riverside for another exhibition matchup Dec. 6 at 7 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 51, CU 86
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Release by Jeff Rebello, Assistant Sports Information Director