Cal Baptist Is a Handful in More Ways Than One : Gang of Six Gives Cal Lutheran Fight

Whenever his team missed an inside shot or surrendered an easy basket during Thursday night’s game against Cal Lutheran, Cal Baptist Coach Jerry King would turn in disgust, then simply mutter a few words to himself.

He really didn’t have a choice. He certainly didn’t have many people to talk to on his bench.

Cal Lutheran, facing a team with only six players, was forced to come from behind in the final two minutes to defeat Cal Baptist, 81-78, in a nonconference game at Cal Lutheran.

Cal Baptist trailed by 14 points several times early in the second half but put together runs of 12-4 and 8-2 to take a 74-73 lead with 2 1/2 minutes left.

But Cal Lutheran regained the lead 40 seconds later on a 15-foot jump shot by Darren Ranck then made 6 of 7 free throws in the final minute to seal the win.

Cal Lutheran (10-14) has won two straight and needs only two wins in its final four games to earn a berth in the NAIA District III playoffs.

“We really seem to be building our momentum at the right time,” Cal Lutheran Coach Larry Lopez said.

But Lopez admitted the Kingsmen will have to learn to apply the knockout punch when they have their opponent down.

“We’ve had trouble putting people away all year,” Lopez said. “I think we just get conservative. But tonight I think it was more of a credit to Cal Baptist than a failure on our part.”

Cal Lutheran was led by Steve deLaveaga, who scored 24 points despite facing a box-and-one defense much of the night. Michael Demeter, Ranck, and Dave Jacques also scored in double figures for the Kingsmen.

Michael Banks led Cal Baptist with 32 points on 13-of-23 shooting before fouling out in the final minute.

Although each of Cal Baptist’s five starters played at least 39 minutes, King declined to blame the Lancers aborted comeback attempt on fatigue. They’re used to situations like this.

The Lancers have played most of the season with six players. They originally had 11, but two became academically ineligible and three were kicked off the team for disciplinary reasons.

It might seem economical to have a team that can drive to its games in a mid-sized car, but the shortage of players often has caused the Lancers severe problems. They had only four players available for one game, and King had to suit up three members of the baseball team.

Cal Baptist’s starting five almost were enough Thursday.

The Lancer guards starting finding Banks inside and Cal Baptist chiseled away at the Kingsmen’s advantage before taking a one-point lead after its second big run.

After a pair of free throws by DeLaveaga with three seconds left, Cal Baptist called timeout to set up a play for a three-point attempt, but Barry Deckard’s shot from half-court hit the gym ceiling.

Cal Baptist managed to stay close--and even led periodically--during the first 12 minutes of the game, but Cal Lutheran scored eight straight points to open up a 26-18 lead with six minutes left. The Kingsmen maintained that advantage for the final six minutes and led, 41-33, at halftime.

DeLaveaga, who averages just under 20 points per game, scored six of his 14 first-half during the run.

CAL BAPTIST--Stopp 2, Maker 10, Deckard 9, Banks 32, Carter 25.

CAL LUTHERAN--Jacques 11, Faulk 9, Demeter 12, Logsdon 9, DeLaveaga 24, Taggatz 2, Rodrick 2, Ranck 12.