THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Palmer Chaplin led Cal Lutheran men's basketball with 12 points, Cole Thomas added 11 more, but the Occidental Tigers had the Kingsmen's number and won the game 77-54 on Saturday afternoon.
The Kingsmen dropped their second straight Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) as they fell to 1-4 and 2-11 overall.
Chaplin and Thomas both had all-around games, but the Tigers were hot from all over the court going 49.2-percent from the field and 50-percent from three. The Kingsmen also shot good from the field, 45.8-percent, however, CLU was 6-for-21 from three, shooting 28.6-percent.
Chaplin drilled two three-pointers as he scored the team-high. He added a team-high in rebounds (7), assists (4) and steals (2) as he did a little bit of everything.
Thomas went 5-of-11 from the field and tallied three rebounds, two steals and two blocks. He pushed his streak of double-digit scoring games to nine.
Lachlan Hannemann, Miles Houston and Charlie Lee rounded out the starting lineup. Lee totaled seven points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal, while Hannemann and Houston both scored six points.
The Tiger defense didn't allow much else as they forced the Kingsmen into 18 turnovers, scoring 25 points off those turnovers. The bench for Oxy also contributed as it outscored CLU 31 to 12.
The Kingsmen had the quick lead and jumped out 7-2 after a Hannemann three. A few minutes later, Hannemann converted another and gave CLU a 12-4 lead just five minutes into the game. Oxy slowly chipped away at the lead and tied the game at 14 with 10 minutes left in the half.
With the score knotted at 21, the Tigers scored eight straight points and took a 29-21 lead. Oxy increased its lead during the rest of the half and took a 36-23 lead to the locker room.
Cal Lutheran cut the lead to 10 early in the second half, but Occidental had an answer as the Tigers went on a 18-5 run over the next seven minutes and took a 54-31 lead. The Kingsmen were not able to recover as Oxy walked off the court with a 77-54 win.
Cal Lutheran stays at home for the next SCIAC contest and welcomes Caltech on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Box Score: OXY 77, CLU 54
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
