THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Cal Lutheran never trailed during its home debut on Wednesday night en route to a 71-62 defeat of La Sierra. Both Kingsmen victories this season have come at the expense of the Golden Eagles.
Box Score: CLU 71, LSU 62 - F
Cal Lutheran did most of its scoring around the basket with 36 points in the paint. Aaron Van Klaveren provided 22 points including 15 in the first half alone.
The Kingsmen committed just five first half fouls and led by as many as 12 points over the opening 20 minutes. However six second half fouls called on Van Klaveren and fellow big man Mike Harris limited the duo to 15 combined second half minutes.
Making his season debut, senior John Wilson saw an unanticipated 30 minutes of floor time. On Wednesday he contributed 10 points, seven rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot to lead the Kingsmen bench.
Wilson cashed in on each of his four offensive rebounds with put-back lay-ups. His final first half basket capped off a stretch of 11 unanswered points just before intermission. Cal Lutheran led 34-22 following that scoring run and held at minimum a four point cushion the remainder of regulation.
It was a much needed lift to combat La Sierra's Daveon Woods who scored 14 of his team-high 18 points in the second half. He was the catalyst for the Golden Eagles offense finishing with five assists and three steals in 39 minutes.
In contrast the Kingsmen featured eight different players scoring no more than seven in the second half. They used an attack mode offense that earned them 34 trips to the foul line. Several LSU turnovers turned into fast break scoring chances for CLU with Jayvaughn Nettles looking for the big finish.
Instead the Golden Eagles sent Nettles to the line 10 times with the junior guard scoring six of his 14 at the charity stripe. In total Cal Lutheran earned a 34-13 advantage in trips the foul line and outscored La Sierra 22-7 in free throws.
Cal Lutheran previously defeated La Sierra 69-56 back on Nov. 19. Van Klaveren also led the Kingsmen in that victory with 26 points and nine rebounds.
CLU will host Pacifica College on Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 7:30 p.m.