NEWBERG, Ore. — Kyle Ferreira made two free throws with 7.6 seconds and Cal Lutheran's defense did the rest as the Kingsmen fended off the George Fox Bruins, 83-80, Tuesday night at Wheeler Sports Center.
Cal Lutheran improved to 2-1 on the year and have won two straight games. All three games this year have been decided by four points or less. The Kingsmen took down an undefeated team for the second straight game. George Fox drops to 2-1.
Ferreira recorded his first double-double of the season and sixth of his career. He had a team-high 23 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. He was 8-of-13 from the field, 3-of-5 from three-point range and 4-of-5 from the free throw line.
Michael Wadsworth came off the bench and was efficient for the Kingsmen. He was 8-of-9 from the field as he put up 18 points. It is the most points he has scored for the Violet and Gold. He notched a statistic in every category as he recorded six rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block.
Tyler Brabant made it three Kingsmen in double-digits. It is the first double-digit scoring game of his career. He scored 11 points and added three rebounds.
Five more Kingsmen scored as Austin Cole was next. He scored eight points and was 4-for-4 from the free throw line. He was clutch from the charity stripe and made all four down the final stretch. He also recorded seven rebounds and four assists.
Jared Wulbrun was next with seven points and Palmer Chaplin had five. Chaplin helped move the ball around and dished out a career-high 10 assists.
Caleb Thomas and Charlie Lee both scored their first points with the Kingsmen and chipped in six and five, respectively. Thomas added six rebounds.
Cal Lutheran shot 54.1-percent from the field while George Fox was 42.7. Cal Lutheran also outrebounded the Bruins 45-34. The game went back and forth and there were 12 ties and six lead changes in the game.
George Fox took its biggest lead early on and was up 14-9 with 15:03 left in the half. With CLU down 18-16, the Kingsmen scored 15 straight points and took a 31-18 lead. Five Kingsmen scored during the run as Wulbrun, Brabant, Lee, Ferreira and Cole all chipped in.
Just as the Kingsmen made a run, the Bruins were there with a run of their own. George Fox was able to tie up the game and even took a three-point lead, 46-43, with 57 seconds left in the half. Cal Lutheran got the final say of the half. Wadsworth drained a three-pointer to beat the buzzer and the score was tied 46-all at the half.
The second half saw the score tied three times in the first five minutes. The Kingsmen were finally able to put some distance between themselves and the Bruins. Chaplin and Ferreira nailed back-to-back threes and CLU was up 66-57 with 11:16 left in the game. A few possessions later, Thomas had a big offensive rebound and made a layup to increase the lead to 68-57.
George Fox was there with an answer again and cut the lead to two, 79-77, with one-minute left in the game. CLU called a timeout to set up a play. The Kingsmen executed the play perfectly as Thomas made a layup to put Cal Lutheran back up by four.
George Fox was eventually down two, again, and had a chance to tie at the free throw line. The Bruins made one-of-two and CLU hung onto its lead. Ferreira was fouled with 12 seconds left. He went to the line and was clutch as he made both free throws. The defense did the rest as CLU won the game 83-80.
The Kingsmen continue their road trip Wednesday. Cal Lutheran takes on Pacific at 7 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 83, GF 80
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
