THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Cal Lutheran men's basketball opened the 2022-23 season at home, showing spurts of fantastic play as they took on Illinois Tech on Thursday night. The Kingsmen fell to the Scarlet Hawks 98-89.

Illinois Tech got revenge on Cal Lutheran for last year. The Kingsman started last year by defeated the Scarlet Hawks at their place. 
 
The Scarlet Hawks were efficient in Gilbert Arena, shooting 59.6 percent from the field, with the Kingsmen going 44.6. The teams were almost even from three-point range as Cal Lutheran was 44.4 percent and Illinois Tech was 43.8. 

Five Kingsmen scored in double figures and Devon Lewis led the team with 20. Brock Susko was next with 15, Desi Burrage recorded 13 and Tommy Griffitts and Riley O'Connor had 12 each. 

Burrage was at the top of the leaderboard for rebounds with eight, Susko was next with seven and Griffitts added five. Lewis, Burrage and O'Connor all dished out three assists and Susko had two steals.  

The Kingsmen got off to a fast start as Lewis and Logan McCullough made back-to-back three pointers to start the game. No matter what type of run a team went on, the other team responded, as the game has nine tied and five lead changes. Cal Lutheran took its biggest lead of the game at 20-13 with 10:58 left in the half. 

The Scarlet Hawks chipped away at the lead and eventually tied the game up at 25 with 7:09 to go in the first. Then it was Illinois Tech's turn to take the lead and they were up 41-38 at the half. 

In the second half, every time the Scarlet Hawks took a sizeable lead, the Kingsmen would fight back. Down 67-58, Cal Lutheran overcame a rough stretch and were down 77-74 with 5:20 remaining. The Scarlet Hawks took final control after that, went on a 14-4 run, and took a 91-78 lead with just over a minute to play. That final lead was what Illinois Tech needed as they took the game. 
 
The Kingsmen play their first road game on Saturday. Cal Lutheran is at The Master's University with tip-off set for 6 p.m.

Box Score: IIT 98, CLU 89
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