THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — California Lutheran University men's basketball fought back from 15 points down in the second half, and went up 82-80 with 1:30 left, but were outlasted by the Pomona-Pitzer Sagenhens 90-83 in the semifinals of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Tournament on Friday night.

The Kingsmen's fate of their season now rests in the hands of the NCAA committee. Cal Lutheran will look for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. 

Cal Lutheran impressed this year as they totaled more wins than the past three years combined. The Kingsmen finished 9-6 in conference, their best since 2016-17, and are 18–7 overall.

Jacob Alonzo hit clutch three-pointers down the stretch and led his squad with 20 points. He also had a team-high seven assists and tallied two steals. 

Tommy Griffitts was one-point shy of his career-high and went 8-for-9 from the field with 19 points. Mason Johnson was next with 15 points and added a team-best seven rebounds. 

Charlie Lee hit big-time three's for the Kingsmen, three in total, for nine points to go along with three rebounds. 

The Purple and Gold jumped out to a 6-0 lead to start the game as Alonzo hit back-to-back three-pointers. Johnson then added back-to-back shots and the teams exchanged buckets early on.

The Sagehens used a run and went up by double-digits over the middle-part of the first half. They were up by as much as 15 in the first and led by 13 at the break. 

Cal Lutheran was not done and battled back in the second, cutting the deficit to 70-60 with 8:04 left in the game.  

The Kingsmen continued to fight and made it 70-64 after Griffits and Alonzo made layups. The Sagehens once led 68-53 as the Kingsmen made their comeback. 

Alonco cut the lead to three as the Kingsmen climbed back in the game, making it 76-73 with 3:51 left. Cal Lutheran would eventually tie the game at 76 as Griffitts knotted it up with a layup. 

A pull-up three from Alonzo then gave Cal Lutheran its first lead from the very beginning as the Kingsmen were up 79-78 with 1:56 to go. 

Lee then came up clutch and hit a huge three with 1:30 left to give the Purple and Gold an 82-80 lead. With 45.7 seconds left, the score was tied at 82 as the Sagehens had the answer.

Pomona-Pitzer had the last say as a three-pointer on the ensuing possession put the Sagehens up 85-82 with 35 seconds to go.  

The Sagehens hit their shots the rest of the way and moved on to the SCIAC Tournament championship game. 

Box Score: PP 90, CLU 83
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director