THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — In a defensive battle, it was the Caltech Beavers that came out on top as they defeated the Cal Lutheran men's basketball team 56-50 on Wednesday night.
The midweek SCIAC matchup had a cold shooting night from both teams as the Beavers (5-9, 3-2 SCIAC) were able to hold off the Kingsmen (2-12, 1-5 SCIAC).
Cal Lutheran shot 31.9-percent from the field (15-47), 25-percent from three (5-20) and were kept in the game by their free throws with a percentage of 78.9 (15-19). Caltech did not shoot much better as they were 35.8-percent from the field (19-53), 36.4-percent from three (8-22) and 62.5-percent from the free throw line (10-16).
The defenses controlled the game as Caltech forced Cal Lutheran into 21 turnovers and only committed 11. That stifling play continued as CLU had five blocks and CIT had four.
Palmer Chaplin was the leading score for the Purple and Gold with 12 and Miles Houston was next with 11. The Kingsmen got 42 points from their starting five as Brooks Mallory scored nine points, making two threes, Cole Thomas added seven more and Charlie Lee had three.
Thomas led the way on the boards pulling down eight, three coming on the offensive end. Houston and Chaplin were next with six rebounds and Lee and Mallory both added five. Jarrett Powers came off the bench to dish out four assists and Mallory tallied two blocks.
The Kingsmen were rolling early and took a lead 10 minutes into the first half. With the score tied at 14, eight straight points gave CLU the edge. Connor Coleconverted on a layup and a free throw, Mallory knocked down a three and Thomas and Chaplin both added a free throw.
Caltech fired right back with back-to-back three-pointers and cut the lead to a one possession game. The Beavers continued to climb back in the game and took a 27-26 lead with 2:53 left in the half. The score remained close the rest of the half and Powers made a layup with seven seconds left as the Kingsmen trailed 31-30 at the break.
For most of the second half, the game remained at one possession. It finally got to two possessions as Caltech led 45-41 with 7:42 remaining. The Beavers kept increasing their lead and had their largest lead of the game at 50-43 with 3:20 left. The Kingsmen cut the lead to five with 1:11 and then 46 seconds left, but were not able to get any closer as Caltech escaped with a 56-50 win.
Cal Lutheran remains home for its next contest and host Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Box Score: CIT 56, CLU 50
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
