11/26 - CAL LUTHERAN 91, GEORGE FOX 78: Bruins Fall to Kingsmen in First Round of Surf's Up Tourney
HONOLULU, Hawai'i - You know you're hot when your pass attempt from three-point range goes into the basket.
Sergei Lepiashinski was that hot for California Lutheran University, scoring 17 first-half points en route to 29 for the game and sparking the Kingsmen to a 91-78 win over the George Fox University Bruins in a first-round game of the Surf's Up Invitational men's basketball tournament Friday afternoon here at Kalani High School.
George Fox jumped out to a 17-12 lead eight minutes into the game thanks to seven early points by Aaron Schmick. The Kingsmen rallied behind Lepiashinski's hot half, however, and took a 10-point lead at 40-30 on a three-pointer by Lepiashinski with 3:08 left. A jumper by Schmick and a pair of free throws by both Mark Gayman and Ben Melvin pulled the Bruins within 42-36 at the half.
The Kingsmen extended their lead to 53-37, but the Bruins went on a 15-3 run to cut the gap to 56-52 with 11 minutes left in the game. At that point, Alex Minney took over for CLU, scoring 12 of his 29 points in less than four minutes as the Kingsmen stretched the lead back to 73-58 with 6:14 to go. That 17-6 run was capped by Lepiashinski's "miracle" basket that slammed through the goal as he tried to thread a pass inside from some 30 feet away.
A jumper by Scott Szalay and a three-pointer and layup by Melvin gave the Bruins a 7-0 run that brought them within 76-70 with just under four minutes left, but the Kingsmen hit six of seven free throws down the stretch to stay comfortably in front.
Melvin scored 20 to lead the Bruins, Schmick and Szalay had 14 each, and Gayman scored 10. Melvin and Schmick combined were 13-13 from the field and 6-6 from the line. Gayman had 6 rebounds, and Brent Satern passed out 4 assists. The Bruins had a hot shooting night, sinking 28-45 for .609, but were out-rebounded 29-20 and committed 17 turnovers to 12 for CLU.
Lepiashinski and Minney were the only Kingsmen in double figures wth 29 each, combining on 18-28 from the field and 16-16 from the line. Minney and Matt McCann had 6 rebounds apiece, and Deshion Inniss handed out 4 assists. The Kingsmen also shot well, going 29-55 from the field for .527 and were 25-30 from the stripe.
In the other first-round game, the University of Puget Sound Loggers raced past the University of California-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs 102-89.
Because George Fox and Puget Sound are both in the Northwest Conference, tournament pairings were pre-set. Saturday's schedule pairs the Bruins (0-2) with Cal-Santa Cruz (0-4) at 1:00 p.m. (3:00 Pacific time), and Puget Sound (3-0) vs. Cal Lutheran (2-0) at 3:00 p.m. (5:00 Pacific time).