THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Cal Lutheran bested Geneva 53-45 in the consolation final of the Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Tournament (TFFL) on Friday evening. Washington (MD) College defeated Carthage 69-65 in the championship game to earn the TFFL title.

Box Score: CLU 53, GEN 45 - F
Box Score: WASH 69, CAR 65 - F

Washington's Kevin Breslin was named the Tournament Most Outstanding Player. Teammate Sal Schittino, Carthage's Malcolm Kelly and Mitch Thompson, CLU's Aaron Van Klaveren and Geneva's Dave Phillips round out the TFFL All-Tournament Team selections as voted upon by the coaching staff's for each program.

Cal Lutheran 53, Geneva 45 - F
In a low scoring defensive battle the Kingsmen were able to capitalize a few more times than the Golden Tornadoes. Cal Lutheran outscored Geneva 17-8 in points off turnovers while committing seven less miscues in the process.

Another major factor in Friday's result was the performance of CLU newcomer Ryan Benson. He led the team's scoring effort 15 points in 32 minutes off the Kingsmen bench.

Prior to Friday's effort, Benson had appeared in only three games and totaled 11 points in 15 minutes of floor time. He nearly matched those marks in the first half alone leading Cal Lutheran with nine points in 15 first half minutes.

While Benson was effective from the outside teammate Aaron Van Klaveren took control of the glass. The senior big man grabbed 11 of his game-high 18 boards in the first half. He finished with 14 points, two blocks and a steal in 34 minutes.

Cal Lutheran held the lead over the final 35 minutes of regulation, but not without some close calls along the way. Twice in the second half Geneva closed the deficit to two points but came no closer.

Geneva's Dave Phillips scored two of his game-high 21 points at the 8:32 mark closing the gap to 34-32. He scored 13 in the first half including a 3-pointer that put him over 1,000 points for his career.

Over the final two minutes Cal Lutheran connected on 9-of-11 free throws to stay out of danger and hold on for victory.

Cal Lutheran (4-5) will be on the road Tuesday, Jan. 5, to take on UC Santa Cruz.

Washington (MD) 69, Carthage 65 - F
In the title game, Carthage shot 50 percent from the floor and took a 10 point advantage to the locker room after leading by as many as 14 points in the opening period of play. Thompson took the Red Men on his back in the first 20 minutes with 14 points on 7-for-11 shooting while also grabbing six rebounds.

Washington came out fired up in the second half and chipped away until they earned their first lead of the half at the 13:51 mark on a three-pointer by Schittino, which gave the Shoremen a 42-41 advantage.

The teams were never separated by more than five points for the remainder of regulation.

At the 1:09 mark Washington used all but one second on their shot clock and Tony Hawkins capped off a solid possession with a jumper in the paint on an assist from Breslin, giving the Shoremen a 63-61 lead.

A quick Red Men foul gave the ball back to Washington and Breslin wasted no time finding the bottom of the net himself to put Washington up by four with just under a minute to play. Breslin went on to lock in the victory for the designated home squad when he converted all four of his free-throws down the stretch.

The game saw seven ties and seven lead changes when all was said and done.

Although Washington was victorious, Carthage held a shooting edge 44.6 to 40 percent and grabbed more rebounds, 44-36, but turnovers were their nemesis as they committed 22, which led to 23 Washington points.

Thompson finished with a game high 22-point, 15-rebound double-double, leading both categories, for the Red Men. Kelly tacked on 16 points with seven rebounds and Donte Logan led all players with seven assists and three steals.  

Kevin Cunningham was the leading scorer for the Shoremen with 15. Breslin tallied 13 points with five assists and three steals. Also reaching double figures was Chris Olsen with 11.