On Monday Nov. 27, the California Lutheran University basketball team hosted the George Fox University Bruins inside Gilbert Arena for their first game of the 2017-18 season. The Kingsmen defeated the Bruins 94-88.

The game began and both teams traded points with the lead going back and forth.  Eventually the Kingsmen took the lead and began a streak of field goals to extend their lead. 

With around 12 minutes left in the first half, junior Austin Cole scored a three-pointer to give the Kingsmen their first double-digit lead of the game. Halfway through the first half, the Kingsmen were ahead by 15 points and lead by the score 40-25. 

The Bruins tried to come back but the Kingsmen kept them from narrowing the lead.  Head Coach Tim Fusina said he believed that the Kingsmen’s defensive game was helpful to their success on offense and the lead they had. 

The Kingsmen would end up leading the Bruins 51-40 after the first half.  The Bruins ended the first half with 16 field goals, seven of them being three-pointers.  The Kingsmen had 19 field goals,  eight of them being from three-point range.

The second half was better for the Bruins but not good enough to win the game.  After closing the lead and putting pressure on the Kingsmen, the Bruins were unable to relinquish the lead from the Kingsmen. With the help of Cal Lutheran’s defensive play, George Fox could not get out in front. It came close halfway through the second half with the Bruins cutting the lead to 68-61, but the Kingsmen kept the lead and it quickly widened again.

It was not until the last two and a half minutes that the Bruins cut the lead to an eight-point difference.  Unfortunately for the Bruins, it was too late and the Kingsmen would remain in the lead for the remainder of the game.

“We contained number two and number one on their team,” Cole said. 

Fusina mentioned that the Bruins players Thomas Rico, wearing number one, and Mason Green-Richards, wearing number two, were the team’s leading scorers and as a defensive plan, the Kingsmen would have to put pressure and limit Rico’s and Green-Richards’ chances to score. 

George Fox made a run near the end of the game in its attempt to steal a victory on the road, but fell just short. When the final buzzer went off the Kingsmen beat the Bruins 94-88.  The Kingsmen’s second half ended with the team scoring 13 field goals, five of them three-pointers, and 12 made free throws in the half. The Bruins’ made 17 field goals, five of them three-pointers, as well as 10 made free throws.

“I thought we played really well, came out strong.  We had a big lead but let them come back in it a little bit, and then pulled it together towards the end when we needed to, got stops and overall got the win, which is what we were looking for,” said Kingsmen guard KJ Moffett.

Fusina said he believed that the defensive plan he had practiced before the game was executed properly and the team did exactly what they were supposed to do that night.

“We trusted our game plan and we knew that they had some good shooters. We knew that they were going to go on some runs, but at the end of the day, it’s about executing down the stretch,” said Kingsmen guard Palmer Chaplin.

The Kingsmen will travel to Los Angeles, California to take on the Occidental Tigers Wednesday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. to open conference play.

Jack Hoy
Reporter