THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - On day one of the Thrivent Financial for Lutherans (TFFL) men's basketball tournament, Cal Lutheran advanced to the finals with a five-point win over Hobart (NY). No. 18 Illinois Wesleyan did likewise taking down Gettysburg (PA) by a 67-53 margin.
Box Score: CLU 70, HOB 65 - F
Box Score: IWU 67, GC 53 - F
Cal Lutheran 70, Hobart 65 - F
After Hobart opened the scoring Cal Lutheran went on an 18-2 scoring run that propelled the tournament hosts to victory. The Statesmen never pulled within eight points until the final minute of regulation.
The full court pressure of Hobart forced 17 Cal Lutheran turnovers, and the Statesmen took advantage in the second half scoring 15 of its 24 total points off CLU miscues. However it also proved to be their undoing as early second half foul trouble for the visiting side erased any likelihood of a serious comeback effort.
HC committed six team fouls inside three minutes of the period, putting CLU in the bonus the final 17 minutes, 33 seconds of regulation. The Kingsmen knocked down 20-of-31 second half free throws and shot over 65 percent at the charity stripe.
Several different Cal Lutheran individuals contributed to the team's success on Wednesday night stated Kingsmen assistant coach Geoff Dains.
Entering tonight's game Hobart averaged nearly 85 points per contest, but were held to only 22 first half points as Cal Lutheran enjoyed a 32-22 halftime cushion. The Statesmen shot 8-of-29 from the field in the first half and Cal Lutheran allowed only five second chance opportunities during the opening frame.
The 10-point margin at intermission was led offensively by Greg Grimm who scored 12 of his game-high 21 in the first half, with teammate Aaron Van Klaveren contributing all nine of his points in 15 first half minutes of action.
The second half offensive firepower was mostly provided by Aaron Fisher with 11 points and Jeremy Sulker-Hall scoring 10 off the CLU bench. Sulker-Hall's pair of blocks sparked a 10-0 scoring run that put the Kingsmen ahead by their largest margin of 21 points midway through the period.
Hobart drained three of its seven three pointers in the final 46 seconds of regulation but time ran out on the Statesmen. Stefan Thompson and Matt Pebole scored 24 of their combined 32 in the second half to lead the offense.
Cal Lutheran will play No. 18 Illinois Wesleyan on Thursday, Dec. 30 at 8 p.m. in the TFFL title game. Hobart will face Gettysburg in the consolation final at 6 p.m.
Illinois Wesleyan 67, Gettysburg 53 - F
The Bullets never fully recovered from an early 15-0 scoring run by the Titans. Gettysburg pulled to within two points on a pair of occasions during the second half, but a pair of IWU mini scoring runs late ended any hopes of a come-from-behind victory.
Despite shooting just 6-for-22 from three the Titans outrebounded the Bullets 38-24 including 14 offensive rebounds while limiting Gettysburg to just four.
Leading by six at halftime IWU's Jordan Zimmer scored 13 of his team-high 18 points in the second half to pace the Titans to victory. Teammate Doug Sexauer contributed 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting, to go along with eight rebounds.
GC's Andrew Powers shot 10-of-13 from the floor scoring a game-high 22 points, along with grabbing a team-high seven boards. Fellow starting forward Tim Lang scored 12 points in the losing effort.