Delightful Game Ends in Loss for CLU

What kind of debasketball was this, anyway?

And now introducing, for Cal Lutheran, guard Steve deLaveaga and his sidekick Michael Demeter. For Azusa Pacific, meet guard Scott DeBrouwer and center Bill DesRochers. All in deGolden State Athletic Conference game of denight.

In de end, it was DesRochers and defense that gave Azusa Pacific an 80-78 win over the Kingsmen at CLU Gym on Tuesday night.

After trailing by as many as 10 points, Azusa Pacific came back in the final minutes to tie the score, 78-78, when DesRochers scored four straight points. Then, with two seconds left in the game, DesRochers was fouled by CLU guard Michael Fulton. The 6-8 junior, who finished with 17 points, hit both free throws to give the Cougars their second league win in four games. Cal Lutheran fell to 8-11, 2-1 in the conference.

“When I went to the foul line,” DesRochers said, “I wasn’t thinking of anything. I just took a deep breath and shot the ball. If you think about what you’re doing, you miss.”

DesRochers wasn’t about to do any thinking. His free throws spoiled DeLaveaga’s best game of the season. The CLU guard scored 38 points on 11-for-16 shooting, including 13 of 14 from the line. While most his teammates struggled offensively, DeLaveaga scored nearly half of his team’s points. That, despite being double- and triple-teamed throughout the second half.

“That kid is a great shooter,” Azusa Coach Cliff Hamlow said. “We didn’t want just one guy to beat us--he had 22 in the first half--so we keyed on him in the second.”

Still, until the last minute, it looked as if the Kingsmen had the game won. But in the final 60 seconds, CLU missed the front end of three one-and-one opportunities. With 14 seconds left, Cal Lutheran commited a costly turnover after a timeout when John Aguirre threw the in-bounds pass over everyone’s head.

That set up Azusa Pacific’s game-winning free throws.

“The three missed one-and-ones really hurt us,” CLU Coach Larry Lopez said. “We could’ve put them away and didn’t. I was really happy with the way we played, until the last two minutes.”