Mens Basketball: Cal Lutheran 76, George Fox 70

Kingsmen Subdue Bruins with Free Throws.

Salem-News.com Sports

HONOLULU, Hawaii - A huge disparity in free throws proved costly to the George Fox University Bruins as they dropped a 76-70 decision to the California Lutheran University Kingsmen on the first day of action in the Surf’s Up Invitational Men’s Basketball Tournament Friday afternoon here at Kalani High School.

George Fox was whistled for almost twice as many fouls as Cal Lutheran, 27 to 14, resulting in 33 free throw attempts and 20 made for the Kingsmen to only nine attempts and six makes for the Bruins. That made a significant difference as the Bruins sank only one less field goal than the Kingsmen, 26 to 27, and connected on 12 three-pointers to only two for Cal Lutheran.

With Jack Martin hitting four three-pointers and a jumper for 14 early points, the Bruins build an 11-point lead of 21-10 seven minutes into the game. The Bruins cooled off after hitting eight of their first 12 shots, however, and committed 13 first-half turnovers that allowed Cal Lutheran to come back. After Alex Stockner gave the Bruins an eight-point lead of 30-22 on a layup with six minutes left in the period, the Kingsmen went on a 21-6 run to close out the half. A three by Travis Toedtemier gave George Fox its final lead of the half at 36-35 with 2:03 to go, but the Bruins turned it over three times in the final two minutes without getting a shot and the Kingsmen took advantage with a free throw and three layups to take a 43-36 lead at the break.

A layup by Kyle Knudsen to open the second half gave Cal Lutheran its largest lead at 45-36, but George Fox battled back with a 15-4 run and regained the lead at 51-49 on a Toedtemeier trey with 15 minutes to play. A dunk and a three by Aaron Van Klaveren put the Kingsmen ahead for good, but the Bruins stayed close, four times closing within two points but never fully catching up. Grant Vahalla’s jumper with 5:44 remaining brought the Bruins within a pair at 64-62, but the Kingsmen hit eight free throws in the final four minutes to hang on for the victory.

Martin finished with 19 points to pace the Bruins, Toedtemeier and Stockner added 14 apiece, and Evan Atwater scored 13. Toedtemeier grabbed a team-high six rebounds, while Martin handed out five assists.

Andy Meier led the Kingsmen with 26 points, including 8-10 from the line that was more free throws than the Bruins shot as a team. Van Klaveren added 15, Greg Grimm 13, and Knudsen 10. Grimm had five assists, and Xavier Walton made four steals.

In Friday’s other tournament game, Pacific University downed Whittier College 86-73 behind 23 points from Garold Howe and 20 from Ross Bartlett.

The tournament wraps up Saturday as Pacific (2-2) meets Cal Lutheran (3-0) at 3:00 PM HST (1:00 PM PST) and George Fox (0-4) takes on Whittier (0-3) at 5:00 PM HST (3:00 PM PST).

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