written by Liam Flenniken

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Cal Lutheran notched its third-straight win behind 34 points from Devon Lewis, handling Chapman 98-88 on Monday afternoon. 

It was a tight game early, with neither team leading by more than five in the first seven minutes of play. Chapman held a 6-4 lead to open the game, although it would prove to be its last. 

It was a revenge game of sorts for the Kingsmen, whose loss to Chapman two weeks ago ended their eight-game winning streak. 

Although Cal Lutheran (12-3, 5-1) never relinquished the lead, Chapman (10-6, 3-4) cut the deficit to six points and seemed to be gaining momentum. Lewis answered with a steal and took it cross-court himself for the layup. On the subsequent inbound, the ball was stolen by Matthew Verkamp and dished to Lewis again for an and-one, sending Gilbert Arena into a frenzy. 

Five Kingsmen tallied double-digit points, while seven recorded at least three rebounds. 

Tommy Griffitts, who recorded 15 points and nine rebounds in the win, said there was definitely some extra motivation in the locker room going into the contest. 

"Yeah, I think we were definitely conscious of that going in. That was one of our worst games, at Chapman, so we knew we wanted to get them back and play our game the right way, and I think we did that pretty well," Griffitts said. 

The Kingsmen are back in action at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at CMS. 

Key Stats:
Devon Lewis - 34 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST, 2 STL
Tommy Griffitts - 15 PTS, 9 REB, 2 AST
Ze'ev Remer - 15 PTS, 4 REB, 1 AST
Matthew Verkamp - 3 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL