CLAREMONT, Calif. — Tommy Griffitts scored 19 points and Brock Susko added 18 more and the No.4 seed Cal Lutheran men's basketball knocked off top-seeded, and No. 24 in the nation, Pomona-Pitzer 79-73 on Friday night.
The Kingsmen keep their season alive and advance to the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championship game. Cal Lutheran will travel to Redlands on Saturday with tip-off set for 7 p.m.
Cal Lutheran defeated Pomona-Pitzer for the first time since the 2016-17 season. Griffitts and Susko had an efficient night in the win. Griffitts was 9-10 from the field and Susko was 5-6 from three.
Desi Burrage made it three Kingsmen in double-digits and hit four three-pointers on his way to scoring 14 points. Devon Lewis was next with nine points and Ze'ev Remer and Jake Martin had six each.
Stephen Davis led Cal Lutheran in rebounding and recorded seven, with two being offensive. The Kingsmen tallied 22 assists on the night and Remer had the most with six. Lewis and Riley O'Connor had two each. Davis had the most steals with two and Susko and Griffitts both had a block.
Cal Lutheran put on a clinic for the first 30 minutes of the game. The Kingsmen shot 48.4-percent from the field, 46.2 from three-point range and 77.8 from the free throw line. Cal Lutheran tied their season-low in turnovers with six and forced Pomona-Pitzer into 11.
The Kingsmen led from start to finish. They jumped out to an early 17-10 lead with back-to-back threes from Susko and Martin. The points kept coming from all over the court as Lewis made a layup to put his team up 31-17 with 9:18 left in the half. Cal Lutheran kept opening its lead as a three from Burrage made it 47-31 with 3:02 to go. Martin made it a 19 point lead at the half as he drilled a three-pointer with three seconds left.
Cal Lutheran held their big lead for the start of the second half, but Pomona-Pitzer slowly made a comeback. Key plays by the Kingsmen kept the lead at a distance through the first 10 minutes. With six minutes remaining, Pomona-Pitzer cut the lead to 10 points.
Remer made clutch plays down the stretch. When Pomona-Pitzer cut the lead to seven, Remer was there with a jump shot. When the Sagehens cut the lead to one with 1:19 to go, Remer was there, again. His jump shot with 51 seconds left had the Kingsmen up 76-73. Cal Lutheran made three free throws down the stretch and held of Pomona-Pitzer.
The Kingsmen have their first shot at a SCIAC Tournament Championship since the 2016-17 season. Cal Lutheran will look for its first tournament championship since 2014-15.
Box Score: CLU 79, PP 73
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