OAKLAND, Calif. Head-Royce could not keep pace with Cornerstone Christian's shooting and fell 61-46 on Tuesday night. The Jayhawks dropped to 15-13 with their second straight loss. Head-Royce made 13 of 49 shots from the field (26.5 percent) and 2 of 25 from 3-point range, while the Crusaders shot 43.9 percent.
Mikael Akpala scored the first 10 Head-Royce points. After Cornerstone Christian opened with a basket, Akpala answered with a layup off a turnover, made two free throws and hit a pair of 3-pointers set up by Bryce Clepper. The second 3-pointer gave the Jayhawks a 10-8 lead, their largest of the night. Cornerstone Christian then scored seven straight points, including a 3-pointer off a turnover, to go up 15-10. Micah Nyamuzuwe made two free throws and Clepper scored off a turnover to cut the gap to 15-14, but the Crusaders answered with a 6-0 run and led 21-14. Jack Peay and Micah Riebel scored to keep Head-Royce within 23-20. Cornerstone Christian led 30-23 at halftime.
Clepper opened the second half with a basket, then scored off a turnover and made a free throw to pull Head-Royce within 30-26. The Crusaders answered with a 7-0 run that put them up 37-26, and they led 41-28 a few possessions later. Head-Royce's best stretch followed: Riebel made four straight free throws, and Alex Jones scored off a turnover on a feed from Nick Taubes, a 6-0 run that cut the deficit to 41-34. Riebel made four more free throws and then scored a second-chance basket to make it 47-41. Cornerstone Christian scored the next six points to push the lead back to 12, then pulled away late. Its lead reached 61-44, its largest of the game, before Peay closed the scoring with a basket off a turnover.
Akpala led Head-Royce with 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including 2 of 4 from 3-point range, and made all four of his free throws. Riebel scored 13 points off the bench, made 9 of 12 free throws and led the team with eight rebounds, five of them offensive. He also had two steals. Clepper added nine points, four assists, three steals, four rebounds and a block. Nyamuzuwe had four points, six rebounds and two blocks, and Peay finished with four points and two steals.
Head-Royce outscored the Crusaders 18-7 at the free throw line (18 of 24), but Cornerstone Christian made 25 field goals to the Jayhawks' 13 and had 17 assists. The Jayhawks forced 19 turnovers and had 10 steals, yet Cornerstone Christian held an 11-10 edge in points off turnovers. The Crusaders also outrebounded Head-Royce 31-27. The Jayhawks grabbed 12 offensive rebounds but scored only four second-chance points, compared with eight for Cornerstone Christian. The Head-Royce bench scored 15 points.
Cornerstone Christian also won the first meeting between the teams, 64-59 in Oakland on Jan. 11, so the Crusaders swept the season series. Head-Royce is now 15-13.