THOUSAND OAKS, CA – The Alfred University men's basketball team dropped a 87-65 decision to host Cal Lutheran University in the opening game of the Thrivent Financial Tournament Thursday evening.
 
AU (3-5) led 11-6 when senior guard Tyler Seelman (Lorton, VA/Hayfield Secondary) hit a three-point shot five minutes into the game. Cal Lutheran (8-1) went on a 12-4 run over the next four minutes to take an 18-15 advantage and never trailed again. From there, the Kingsmen closed the half on a 31-16 run and led 49-31 at intermission.
 
Alfred cut the deficit to 11 points (56-45) on a layup by senior forward Eric Adams (Readington, NJ/Hunterdon Central) at the 15:33 mark of the second half. Cal Lutheran went on a 13-2 run over the next 4:34 to take a 69-43 lead midway through the second half and AU got no closer than 16 points the rest of the way.
 
Seelman paced AU with 10 points and five rebounds, while junior forward Tristin Hook (Red Bank, NJ/Middletown North) added nine points and five boards. Adams scored nine points and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds, and senior guard Julian Reinhart (Hornell, NY/Hornell) and freshman guard Sam Dagon (Hornell, NY/Hornell) each netted six points.
 
Adrian Francis had 22 points and seven assists to lead Cal Lutheran. Wolfgang Wood had 21 points and six rebounds and Austin Cole chipped in with 16 points, five rebounds and three assists.
 
Alfred plays next in Friday's consolation game, at 5 p.m. PST (8 p.m. EST) against Luther College, which lost to Lake Forest College in Thursday evening's other first-round game.