THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Tommy Griffitts had 18 points and 10 rebounds, but it wasn't enough as Cal Lutheran men's basketball fell to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Wednesday night.

The Stags escaped as they made two free throws with four seconds remaining and stole the game. The loss drops the Kingsmen to 8-9 overall and 5-4 in SCIAC play.

Griffitts was 9-12 from the field as he led the Kingsmen. He was big on the boards and three of his 10 rebounds were offensive. Riley O'Connor cane off the bench to score 16 points and Brock Susko had 13 more. Cal Lutheran had 14 assists on the night and Desi Burrage had the most with five.

It was a slow start for the Kingsmen as they were held without a basket for the first four minutes. On the other side, the defense showed up as CMS had just a 6-0 lead. Cal Lutheran slowly got back in the game as O'Connor hit a three-pointer and Susko made a layup to make the score 8-6 with 13:22 left in the half. The Kingsmen then tied the game at 10 after layups from Griffitts and Devon Lewis. The game remained close over the next few minutes and CMS was up 16-14 with seven minutes left in the half. CMS flexed its muscles over the next little bit and took a 24-18 lead with 3:58 to go. The Kingsmen fired back and Griffitts made it a two-point deficit as he made a jump shot right before the end of the half. The Stags had a 28-26 lead at the break.

Cal Lutheran opened the second half on an 11-6 run and had a 37-32 lead five minutes in. The teams exchanged baskets over the first 10 minutes of the second half. Just as CMS got within a possession, Griffitts found O'Connor for a wide open three. The Kingsmen had a 45-40 lead with 10:53 to go. Just as the Stags fired a three to make it a two-point game, Susko fired right back and it was a five-point lead with 8:37 left. This time, it was CMS that made a comeback and the game was all tied at 54 with 5:30 to go. Lewis then made two free throws and Susko hit a three to make it 59-54. Cal Lutheran continued to hold the lead as a dunk by Griffitts made it 64-59 with 2:07 to go. The Kingsmen were not able to hold on as the Stags stole the game in the end.

The Kingsmen continue the season at home and welcome the Redlands Bulldogs to Gilbert Arena on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Box Score: CMS 66, CLU 64
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