Keelhaulers hold their own as only NAIA team competing at the Ken Schumann Classic

FOREST GROVE, Ore. – Facing a pair of Division III foes at the Ken Schumann Classic, hosted by Pacific (OR) in Forest Grove, Oregon, Cal Maritime competed in two tough battles but fell in Friday night's matchup vs. the host Boxers, 91-75, and the following afternoon to George Fox, 98-85. 

Don't let Saturday's final score fool you because Cal Maritime battled Pacific (OR), and more than held its own until the tournament host pieced together a 10-0 run in the second half to pull away and defeat the Keelhaulers.

After traveling to Oregon early in the morning, and experiencing a 30-plus-minute delay to start the game — Pacific (OR) is hosting a men's and women's tournament this weekend' as the marquee matchup, the start of this game was delayed due to a ripple effect from Friday's earlier games that took longer to complete than anticipated — CSUM only trailed 45-38 after the first 20 minutes of action, a block of time that saw nine lead changes and nine tied scores take place.

Cal Maritime shot .464 overall in the first half and hit 30 percent of its shots from three to remain within striking distance until the Boxers' second- half run cemented the result.

DJ Henry led four CSUM player in scoring with a near-perfect night — he hit all three attempts from the floor and 6 of 8 from the line — and was one of four players to score double figures.

DeAndre Minor scored 11, Daniel Andreyev and Lucky Hampton each finished with 10 points with the latter posting a team-high rebound total with five.

In Sunday's tournament finale, CSUM connected on 19 of 31 free throws, and recorded six field goals from three, compared to the George Fox's 16; combined, the Keelhaulers played a better game but just didn't connect on their looks as the Bruins led from start to finish.

Jamal Frenchwood notched his first double-double as a Keelhauler by recorded 17 points, one shy of his CSUM career high, and 11 rebounds. Of his 33 boards collected this season, one-third were earned in this game alone.

Minor scored double figures for the fourth game in a row, and fifth time in the six games played by CSUM this season, by finishing with 14 on 6 of 10 shooting. Illyaas Rafiq scored a season-high 12 points by recording 3 of 4 field goals from distance; Drew Fischer ended the weekend with a season-high 11 points; Jake Matteson finished one point shy of recording a double-double of his own by posting nine points and 13 rebounds, the most collected by any Keelhauler in a single game this year.

Men's basketball will experience a quick turnaround since its next game will take place at Dominican (CA) Monday night. Tipoff for this exhibition matchup, and the first of two straight versus Division II competition, is set for 6 p.m.

The first post-Thanksgiving game for the Keelhaulers is set for one week from Monday (Dec. 2) at Jessup.