DENVER— Senior Palmer Chaplin scored a team-high 15 points and Cal Lutheran men's basketball ended the game on a 28-6 run as the Kingsmen defeated the Johnson & Wales Wildcats 64-46 on Friday.
For Johnson & Wales' home opener, it was the Kingsmen (1-2) that came up big as they outscored the Wildcats 36-18 in the second half and sealed the win. Cal Lutheran Head Coach Russell White got his first career win as the Kingsmen dropped JWU to 0-4.
Chaplin showed off an all-around game as he added six rebounds, three assists and one steal, on top of his 15 points.
Freshman Logan McCullough came off the bench to score the second-most points on the team with 12 and Connor Cole was next with 11. McCullough was 6-for-11 from the field while Cole was 3-for-3 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
Carlton Brown kept the hot shooting going as he was 4-for-4 from the field and tallied nine points. McCullough was one rebound shy of a double-double as he led the team with nine rebounds and also added a game-high three steals.
The Kingsmen had a rough game from three-point range, going 3-for-19, but outscored the Wildcats 46-20 in the paint. CLU's bench also performed, outscoring JWU's bench 22-11, while the Kingsmen, as a whole, went 9-for-11 from the free throw line.
The game went back-and-forth early on with the Kingsmen taking a 17-10 lead after a McCullough layup. Johnson & wales fought back over the rest of the half and took a 28-26 lead with 29 seconds left. CLU ended the half on a good note a Cole tallied an offensive rebound and layup with three seconds left, tying the game at the break.
After the Wildcats went up with 40-36 left in the game, the Kingsmen made their move. CLU scored 18 straight points, with Chaplin capping off the run with a layup, giving the Kingsmen a 54-40 lead with 6:54 left. It was the space Cal Lutheran needed as they walked off the court with their first win of the season, a 64-46 defeat of Johnson & Wales.
The Kingsmen continue the season in Colorado as Cal Lutheran is at Colorado College Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 64, JWU 46
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director