THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Cal Lutheran could not continue its hot start in Thursday evening's Thrivent Financial for Lutherans (TFFL) Tournament title game against No. 18 Illinois Wesleyan in dropping an 81-69 result. Hobart defeated Gettysburg in the third place game earlier by a 67-46 score.

Box Score: IWU 81, CLU 69 - F
Box Score: HOB 67, GC 46 - F

Illinois Wesleyan 81, Cal Lutheran 69 - F
Cal Lutheran did not lead in the first half until Xavier Walton's three-pointer with mere ticks left gave the hosts a 41-40 halftime advantage. Freshman Collin Knudsen provided 12 of his season-high 17 points in the opening period going 5-for-5 from the field including a pair of triples.

After the Kingsmen shot 64 percent from the field in the first half to keep up with the Titans, the offensive firepower ran out as CLU connected on just 6-of-19 second half attempts (.316). Meanwhile Illinois Wesleyan continued its torrid shooting pace finishing the game 32-for-54 (.594) as a team.

Once the Titans took their first double-digit lead with 11:42 remaining the Kingsmen never pulled inside of 10 points the rest of the way.

IWU featured four double-digit scorers including TFFL Most Valuable Player Doug Sexauer who finished the championship game with 16 points, six rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block.

Teammate Jordan Zimmer scored 15 points in only 20 minutes of action going 6-for-6 from the floor. Sean Johnson finished with 16 points and six assists, and Ryan Connolly led the Titans bench with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting. He led a reserve group that outscored its counterpart 25-9 for the game.

Knudsen's 17 points led CLU's own quartet of double figure scorers including Greg Grimm with 14, Aaron Fisher's 13 and Aaron Van Klaveren with 10.

For the third straight year Cal Lutheran has finished as the runner-up in the TFFL following a tournament title in 2007.

Hobart 67, Gettysburg 46 - F
After Matt Pebole gave the Statesmen their first lead 99 seconds into the game, Hobart never trailed again and quickly pulled ahead to a sizeable lead. The Bullets cut the deficit to three late in the first half, but Hobart maintained a double-digit lead throughout a majority of the second half.

HC was able to control the glass outrebounding GC 45-28, playing a large role as the Statesmen took 12 more shot attempts.

The HC duo of Pebole and point guard Stefan Thompson were the focus of a Statesmen offense contributing 36 of the team's 67 points, 21 of 45 rebounds and 10 of 14 assists. Most of their damage was done in the first half scoring 23 of the team's 33 first half points.

Bullets forward Andrew Powers had another solid performance leading the team with 16 points, two blocks and two steals. A main factor near the basket, Gettysburg managed to outscore Hobart in the paint by a 28-22 margin.

The 2010 TFFL All-Tournament team was selected and announced following the conclusion of the championship game:

TFFL All-Tournament Team
Doug Sexauer (IWU) - Most Valuable Player
Greg Grimm (CLU)
Jordan Zimmer (IWU)
Aaron Fisher (CLU)
Stefan Thompson (HOB)
Andrew Powers (GC)

Cal Lutheran (4-5) will host Concordia of Wisconsin on Sunday, Jan. 2 at 2 p.m. The last time CLU won the TFFL was in 2007 when they defeated both Concordia (WI) and Gettysburg (PA).