Cal Lutheran Opens by Beating West Coast Christian, 104-94

Cal Lutheran put a scare into interim Coach Larry Lopez by squandering a 15-point second-half lead, but recovered in time to beat West Coast Christian, 104-94, Tuesday night at Cal Lutheran.

The Kingsmen, who made it a habit to fold when confronted with similar situations in the past, combined the clever back-court work of point guard Steve deLaveaga with some aggressive inside play to open its season with a victory.

DeLaveaga, a sophomore who led the Kingsmen in scoring last year with a 13.5 average, scored 22 of his game-high 33 points in the second half.

DeLaveaga wasn’t without his share of help from teammates. Lionel Boyce, a 6-4 forward, came off the bench to score 15 of his 19 points in the second half.

Boyce also led the Kingsmen with 11 rebounds.

Cal Lutheran, which out-rebouunded West Coast Christian, 41-36, used its superior inside strength to build a 54-41 halftime lead. With Boyce pulling down nine rebounds during that span, DeLaveaga (11 first-half points) combined with teammates Dave Jacques (12) and off-guard Darren Ranck (nine) to give CLU its early advantage.

West Coast Christian, which was 16-13 last year, bothered CLU for most of the second half with its quickness and man-to-man full-court press as it took a one-point lead with 9:02 left.