Dream Ends in Whistle Parade : College basketball: CLU’s hopes for national championship dashed by Greensboro, 104-99, as fouls hobble Kingsmen.

In a meeting of high-powered offenses, Greensboro (N.C.) College defeated Cal Lutheran, 104-99, Friday in the round of 16 in the NCAA Division III men’s basketball tournament.

The setback in the South-West Sectional semifinal ended Cal Lutheran’s dreams of a national championship in Coach Mike Dunlap’s final season.

Dunlap, who plans to leave for Australia within the next seven days to coach professional basketball there, said foul trouble hampered the Kingsmen (25-3) throughout the second half. Three Cal Lutheran players fouled out.

“At the end of the game we didn’t have our best players on the floor,” Dunlap said.

Cal Lutheran jumped to a 19-6 lead and led at halftime, 42-39.

But in the first five minutes of the second half, Cal Lutheran’s Paul LaMott and Jason Smith each picked up their fourth fouls.

Derrick Clark, saddled with three first-half fouls, fouled out with 8 minutes 19 seconds remaining, and Smith fouled out with 6:43 left and Cal Lutheran trailing, 81-77.

Damon Ridley, who led the Kingsmen with 32 points, finished with three fouls. LaMott had four fouls and Rupert Sapwell, who sank 12 of 15 shots from the floor and scored 29 points, fouled out with 17 seconds left.

After the game, with his arms draped around Ridley and Sapwell, Dunlap said he will leave the program in good shape. Before his arrival five years ago, Cal Lutheran had only three winning seasons since the program’s inception in 1961-62.

Under Dunlap’s guidance, the Kingsmen advanced to the final round of 16 in two of the last three seasons and set a school record for victories this season.

“This school has had a taste of success,” he said. “What this team has left for those who follow is tradition and pride. I had a vision of leaving the program in better shape than when I got here. This team set the bar as high as we could.”

Dunlap also announced that there is a spot for Ridley in Australia’s National Basketball League after he graduates in December. Said Ridley: “Don’t nobody but me and Coach know how much I’ve been through. He’s helped me become a man a little fast. He’s like a father, a friend, a mother. It’s that type of relationship.”

Ridley finished his collegiate career by sinking nine of 22 shots, including four three-pointers, and scoring 18 points in the second half. His two free throws with 4:12 remaining closed the score to 88-85, but Greensboro (26-3) sank six of eight free throws in the final 2:41 to pull away.

While foul problems limited Cal Lutheran on defense, the Kingsmen also had a difficult time slowing Greensboro’s high-scoring offense. Greensboro scored 65 points in the second half and countered almost every Kingsmen basket with a transition basket of its own.

“In the second half we started executing more,” said Greensboro guard Jamie Snipes, who led the Pride with 19 points. “In the first half we turned the ball over more than we usually do.”

Snipes and his teammates expected to score a lot of points, as did Cal Lutheran. Greensboro came into the game averaging 95.9 points, a school record, and had scored 100 or more points 12 times. Cal Lutheran was averaging 94.2.

“They kept the tempo at hyper-speed,” Dunlap said. “They had some big shots where you see them being taken and say, ‘That’s a heckuva shot.’ We had superior strength inside, but we weren’t able to exploit it in the second half.”

Besides Ridley and Sapell, other double-figure scorers for Cal Lutheran were Clark with 14 and LaMott with 11.

Greensboro shot 62% from the field.