Cal Lutheran Wins This One With Time to Spare, 101-66

It was early in the second half of Wednesday night’s nonconference men’s basketball game between UC San Diego and Cal Lutheran, but Triton assistant Kevin Barbarick had seen enough.

As referee Newton Chelette instructed the timekeeper to put five seconds back on the clock, Barbarick said, “Let it go. Let’s end this thing. We just want to get the hell out of here.”

One couldn’t blame him as Cal Lutheran had a 34-point lead on its way to a 101-66 victory at home.

Leading, 51-33, at halftime, the Kingsmen (6-2) scored the first 19 points of the second half before a three-point play by Mike Thimgan ended UC San Diego’s scoring drought and prompted Barbarick’s remark.

Cal Lutheran extended its lead to 43 points at one point before settling for its sixth victory in the last seven games.

“I want to tell you that I never expected that,” Cal Lutheran Coach Rich Rider said. “They’re a young ballclub, but I did not expect that.”

The Kingsmen shot 57.4% (39 of 68) from the field with their starters making 23 of 35 shots.

Mark Heerema, a 6-foot-2 senior guard from L.A. Baptist High, scored 20 points for Cal Lutheran and put on an outside-shooting clinic in the first half by hitting eight of 10 shots on his way to a 17-point intermission total.

“I just got some open shots,” Heerema said. “My teammates are the ones that set the picks and got me the ball when I was open. The big guys inside were the ones doing the dirty work and I’d like them to get the credit.”

After trailing, 29-14, midway through the first half, UC San Diego (4-5) narrowed its deficit to 29-21 with 6 minutes 52 seconds left in the half. But the Kingsmen went on a 22-12 run to close the first 20-minute period.

Jon Rider, the coach’s son, finished with 19 points for Cal Lutheran, and Dave Ulloa added 15 points and five assists for the Kingsmen, who failed to score on their first four possessions of the second half, but tallied points on seven of their ensuing eight to take a 70-33 lead with 13:54 remaining.

“It was nice to extend that lead,” said Heerema, who was nine of 13 from the field in the game. “We’ve had a tendency to come out a little slow in the second half, but we made things happen tonight.”