Westmont Extends Cal Lutheran’s Streak, 91-65

There are certain things that you can buy that come cheaper by the dozen.

But you’d have a hard time convincing Cal Lutheran Coach Ed Anderson, who guides a basketball team that, “can’t seem to buy a win.”

There was nothing cheap about Cal Lutheran’s latest loss--the Kingsmen’s 12th straight--a 91-65 thrashing administered by Westmont Saturday night in an NAIA District III game at Cal Lutheran.

Cal Lutheran (2-13, 0-2) is now over halfway to reaching the school record of 23 consecutive losses. Meanwhile, Westmont (10-4, 2-0) is well on its way to gaining another showdown with Biola for the conference championship.

And things figure to get worse for Cal Lutheran before they get better. The Kingsmen’s next opponent Tuesday night is--you guessed it--Biola.

“Things are pretty frustrating right now,” said Cal Lutheran center Steve Cotner, who was the leading scorer for the Kingsmen with 13 points. “It seemed like those guys didn’t miss.”

Westmont shot 58 percent in the game. Even more impressive was the way the Warriors controlled the ball--they commited only three turnovers.

“This is the best my team has played all year,” Westmont Coach Chet Kammerer said. “We just wanted to come out and establish ourselves in the first seven minutes.”

Kammerer shouldn’t have worried. Westmont had already established a pattern long before it walked into the gym Saturday night.

The Warriors, who won their fifth straight game, are a perennial conference power. Cal Lutheran has only beaten Westmont six times in 52 tries.

With 13:20 left in the first half, Westmont was already ahead, 18-8. The Warriors upped their lead to as many as 22 points and led, 47-29, at halftime.

Westmont continued to build up its lead in the second half behind the play of forward Daryl Jones, who scored a game high 24 points, and guard Jon Freeman, who added 16.

The loss to Westmont was the first real blow-out the Kingsmen have suffered this season. In its 12 previous losses, Cal Lutheran had played well much of the time. Five of those losses had been by four points or less.

But Saturday night was different and the Kingsmen couldn’t explain why.

“I can’t pinpoint the reason other than the fact that Westmont has a very good team,” Anderson said. “I don’t know what I’m going to tell our guys. But there isn’t much time to worry about it with Biola up next.”

Cotner, the team captain, agreed.

“It’s something we can’t figure out,” he said while shaking his head. “The playoffs are still our goal. We’re just trying to stay positive.”