CLU Sports

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The California Lutheran University men’s basketball evened its conference record with a 63-51 victory over La Verne at home on Wednesday night. Behind 18 points from Andy Meier the Kingsmen extended their win streak to three over the Leopards.

Meier led all scorers with his 18 on 8-of-10 shooting and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds. Two other Kingsmen reached double figures as Mychal Owens and Deshion Inniss poured in 13 and 11 points, respectively. Inniss also tallied a career-high six steals and eclipsed the 100-steal mark in his career reaching 104 by night’s end.

Freshman Aaron Fisher hit on 3-of-6 field goal attempts including a three-pointer for CLU to total seven points in 16 minutes. Knudsen finished with nine points and four rebounds.

Meier opened the game’s scoring with a lay up two minutes into the game and remained ahead for the rest of the contest. On four different occasions in the second half the Leopards were able to cut the deficit to nine points but never pulled any closer. After a pair of Kyle Knudsen free throws the Kingsmen stretched the lead to 16 points, the largest margin of the evening.

CLU hit on 48.9 percent (23-of-47) of its shots while the Leopards connected on 38 percent (19-of-50). Following a first half in which both teams combined for just two free throws (CLU 2-of-2), the Kingsmen connected on 11-of-14 from the charity stripe in the second period while La Verne shot 8-of-13.

ULV was led by senior Robert Hughes who finished with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and five rebounds. Fellow Leopard senior Drew Terry added 10 points and four rebounds.

Cal Lutheran (11-2, 1-1 SCIAC) hits the road Saturday when it plays at conference opponent Caltech at 7:30 p.m.