THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Cal Lutheran used a total team effort in ending its four-game skid on Sunday night defeating UC Santa Cruz 82-58 to pick up its first home win of the year. The Kingsmen went on a 21-0 scoring run over the final seven-plus minutes of the first half providing a majority of the difference.

Box Score: CLU 82, UCSC 58 - F

A backboard rattling slam dunk by Jayvaughn Nettles at the 7:08 mark of the first period was the beginning of the end for the Banana Slugs, who entered the game coming off a one-point loss the day prior to Caltech.

The basket contributed the first two of 21 unanswered points that propelled the Kingsmen to a 45-21 halftime cushion. The CLU duo of Aaron Fisher and Greg Grimm shot 12-for-16 from the floor combining to score 27 first half points, making four more buckets and putting up six more points than the entire UCSC roster.

CLU fired on all cylinders during not only during that stretch, but throughout a majority of the game on both sides of the ball. As a team Cal Lutheran had its best shooting performance in nearly four calendar years connecting on 35-of-51 attempts from the field (.686).

In contrast the Kingsmen knocked down only 4-of-11 free throws (.364) on Sunday and 10-of-26 (.385) on Saturday, the poorest team performances in nearly four calendar years.

The Cal Lutheran defense forced three UC Santa Cruz miscues, while the Banana Slugs offense missed six shot attempts and both free throws tries during the late first half CLU scoring run.

The Kingsmen bench had scored a total of 33 points through the first six games of the season, but put up 36 against the Banana Slugs and outscored its counterparts for the first time on the year. Leading this effort was freshman Michael Palmer who led all players in the second half scoring all of his 15 points in 12 minutes.

There were several key contributors off the CLU bench including six points and 10 rebounds from junior John Wilson. Nettles dunk sparked a scoring run as he contributed nine of his 11 points in the opening half.

Xavier Walton earned his first start of the season and led the team with seven assists, the most by any single Kingsman in a game this year.

Ryan Matsuoka led UCSC with 15 points, but early foul trouble limited his action to only 27 minutes of floor time. Samuel Allen scored nine points to lead the Banana Slugs bench.

Cal Lutheran (3-4) will host the two-day Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Tournament starting on Wednesday, Dec. 29 at 6 p.m. against Hobart.