THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — California Lutheran's Kyle Ferreira recorded his second career double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds, but the Kinsgmen couldn't overcome a big second half from the Whittier College Poets and fell, 77-70, Wednesday night in Gilbert Arena.
Ferreira had a double-double for the second straight game as he led the Kingsmen (3-7, 1-2 SCIAC) in points and rebounds. He added four assists and one steal.
Austin Cole and Blake Miles scored in double-digits with 16 and 14, respectively. Miles filled the stat sheet with five rebounds, three assists and three steals. KJ Moffett chipped in with nine points, five assists and two blocks.
The game started with ties and lead changes. The score was tied four in the first eight minutes. With 12:05 left in the half, Ferreira hit a three to put the Kingsmen up 19-16. Miles added a layup on the ensuing possession and CLU was up 21-16. Cal Lutheran held the lead and added to it. The Kingsmen took a 44-32 lead into the half.
The Kingsmen increased their lead at the start of the second half. Connor Cole made a layup to give CLU its largest lead of the game, 57-40, with 14:03 left in the game. The Poets then went on a huge run to get back into the game.
Whittier outscored the Kingsmen 19-7 over the next nine minutes and was only down 64-59. The Poets continued to chip away at the lead and tied the game at 68 with 2:13 left in the game. Whittier then hit a three with 1:39 left to take the lead for good. They made their free-throws down the stretch and won 77-70.
Whittier outscored Cal Lutheran 45-26 in the second. The Poets went 0-for-14 from three-point range in the first half, but bounced back and shot 8-for-19 in the second half. The Kingsmen were the exact opposite and hit 6-of-12 in the first half and 1-of-11 in the second half. The Poets outrebounded the Kingsmen 44 to 32 and had 15 offensive rebounds compared to CLU's four.
Conner Longmire led the Poets with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Nick Potthoff also recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Potthoff led the team with four assists.
The Kingsmen continue the season on the road and travel to Pomona-Pitzer Saturday and take on the Sagehens at 2 p.m.
Box Score: WC 77, CLU 70
CLU Instagram: http://instagram.com/clusports#
Sport IG: https://www.instagram.com/kingsmen_basketball/
CLU Twitter: https://twitter.com/clusports
Sport Twitter: https://twitter.com/CLUmBasketball
CLU Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clusports
Hashtags: #clusports #ownthethrone #goregals #gokingsmen #theSCIAC #ncaad3
Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
