THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – On Saturday afternoon, Cal Lutheran played the Banana Slugs of UC Santa Cruz at Gilbert Arena. The stadium was asked to wear gold to support Logan, the Kingsmen's CancerFit MVP and honoree to raise awareness for childhood cancer.
Miles Houston led all scorers for Cal Lutheran with 13 points and added four rebounds. Brooks Mallory was on fire from beyond the arc, hitting four three-points to finish with 12 points. Jarrett Powers added nine points with five assists. Palmer Chaplin chipped in with four points and Lachlan Hanneman tallied ten points off the bench.
The Purple and Gold got their first basket early in the half with a tough layup made by Houston. It was a back-and-forth affair early, as both teams made their presence known in the post. Thomas Calvo made the first three of day, and after another layup by Houston, the Kingsmen were up 11-10 with 13 minutes to go in the half. On the next possession, UCSC hit a corner three-pointer, making the score 13-11 to force a timeout.
After a couple buckets made by the opponents, The Kingsmen regained the lead with a contested mid-range shot by Calvo and a three made by Hannemann. With about eight minutes left to go in the first, the Purple and Gold continued to play great defense against the Banana Slugs, notably highlighted by two fantastic blocked shots down low by Houston. CLU scored another three-pointer on the next offensive possession, this time a corner shot made by Mallory.
Both teams made tough baskets, and it seemed when one team scored, another came back. Calvin Phillips made a mid-range jumpshot after an offensive rebound, forcing the Banana Slugs to take another timeout with Cal Lutheran up 23-21 with 3:45 left to go before halftime.
Both teams traded baskets at the end of the half, but after a late three with six seconds to go, it was ultimately UC Santa Cruz that was up 29-27 at the half.
At the start of the second half, Mike Shahan started the scoring, with a tough driving layup on the first offensive possession for the Kingsmen. After a couple of Banana Slugs baskets, Mallory was able to cut the lead to 1 with a deep three from the right wing, score 33-32 Santa Cruz.
With two 'and-one' baskets made in a row, the opponents jumped to the biggest lead of the game, up by seven with 14 minutes to go before CLU took a timeout. The Banana Slugs hit some big shots, increasing their lead to 47-34 with 12 minutes left in the half.
However, CLU fought back when Powers hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 10 points. After a steal, Powers hit Cole Thomas for a layup and cut the lead to single digits. The visiting team was hit with a traveling violation and after multiple good defensive possessions, Powers was fouled and hit an impressive fadeaway shot as well as the free throw, cutting the lead down to five.
Momentum was on the side of the Kingsmen with Powers hitting another long three-pointer. Down by only two, Hannemann hit a three for CLU to take the lead 48-47 with 7:30 left to go. After UC Santa Cruz made one of two free throws, Connor Cole was rewarded with an 'and-one basket' after hitting a contested layup. The Banana Slugs took a timeout with Cal Lutheran up 51-48, capping off a huge 17-1 run.
After the timeout, the Slugs went on a quick 8-2 run. Both teams traded deep shots, with Mallory hitting a deep two with 3:20 left. Mallory hit another long shot, this time a three with a hand in his face, matching that of UC Santa Cruz' Ramos, who hit two triples back-to-back. Kingsmen were down one with 2:04 in the half.
With 50.5 seconds left, Cole hit a three pointer, putting Cal Lutheran up by two. CLU played an excellent defensive possession before a missed shot was rebounded by Houston and fouled with 11.1 seconds left on the clock.
To seal the game, Hannemann hit two free throws for the Purple and Gold to take a four-point lead, and ultimately the game, 63-59.
The Purple and Gold will take on Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. inside Gilbert Arena
Box Score: CLU 63, UCSC 59
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Release by Jakar Oriseh, Sports Information Assistant
