LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Jan. 3, 2008) –  A pair of wins for the sponsors of the 2008 Holiday Classic left both Occidental and Pomona-Pitzer undefeated in the new year. In the first game of day two the Sagehens defeated Chapman University 63-54 before Occidental edged St. Scholastica 76-69 in the tournament finale at Rush Gymnasium on the campus of Occidental College.

Both games were tight in the first half, with the Sagehens taking a slight 33-27 lead over the Panthers into the locker room while the Tigers and Saints were knotted 30-30 at the break.

Pomona-Pitzer (5-5) then used a 12-2 run to pull ahead by 16 points midway through the second half. Chapman (8-6) would chip away, but back-to-back three pointers under a minute to play, cut the deficit to only nine.

Pomona-Pitzer shot 46.8% from the field. Jabarri Reynolds led all players with a 16 point, 10 rebound double-double. Justin Sexton was next in line for the Sagehens with both 14 points and seven rebounds. Also hitting double figures in the contest for PP was David Brown who finished with 10.

The Sagehens out-rebounded the Panthers by a 31-26 margin with 11 coming on the offensive side of the court. PP scored 10 second chance points, while Chapman had six on eight offensive rebounds.

Chapman looked to its bench for the majority of its scoring as 33 of 54 points were from non-starters. Justin Riley and Max Piner led the offense for the Panthers with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Miguel Bennett recorded a team high seven rebounds.

In the second game the lead changed 13 times. Occidental went ahead with 6:07 to play in regulation when Connor Whitman hit a three pointer to put the Tigers up 56-53.

Just moments later a pair of Saints free throws by Andrew Schmitz cut that lead to one.

Oxy strung together a 12-6 run including seven of Gyan Alexander's 12 points. With six seconds to play, and a 74-66 lead, Whitman sank the last two of his 9-for-9 free throw shots on the evening, to give the Tigers a 10 point lead.

An unintentional Oxy foul with .6 seconds remaining put Schmitz back on the line for St. Scholastica, to pull the final score to 76-69.

St. Scholastica (3-8) shot 45.5% from the field while Oxy had just a 34.2 overall field goal percentage. The Tigers capitalized on second chances, grabbing 27 of their 46 rebounds on the offensive side of the court. They scored 22 points following offensive boards. St. Scholastica grabbed just 37 rebounds.

Depth again was key in the victory for Oxy as the bench contributed 43 points, 26 coming in the second half. Senior Chris Hunt was responsible for 27 of those points on 10-for-23 shooting, including seven three pointers.

Whitman recorded his first double-double of the season with 12 points (9-for-9 from the line) and a game high 11 rebounds (six offensive) while adding three steals. Huston Conti also turned in a solid performance with 15 points and eight rebounds, half offensive.

Chris Pitcher dished out a game high six assists, grabbed nine rebounds (five offensive), recorded two blocks and chipped in six points. Alexander and Gemayal McBride finished with four assist apiece for Oxy.

The Occidental defense forced 12 Saints' turnovers, that led to 12 Tigers' points. Oxy turned the ball over just nine times in the contest.

Oxy capitalized from the line tonight, shooting 84.6% overall (11-for-13).

Schmitz led St. Scholastica with a 20 point performance on 6-for-10 shooting with a 5-for-5 night from the charity stripe. Brady Zubke also turned in a double-double tonight with 18 points on 8-for-14 shooting with 10 rebounds. He was also credited with the only Saints' block of the night.

In the final non-conference game of the 2007-08 season, # 25 ranked Occidental College (10-1) extended its win streak to nine games.

The All-Tournament Team was comprise of, Hunt (OXY - 32 points, 11 rebounds), Jeremy Namkung (PP – 11 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 steals), Pitcher (OXY - 11 assists (leader), 17 rebounds(leader), 16 points), Reynolds (PP 34 points (leader), 14 rebounds), Schmitz (SS – 25 points, 5 steals), Sexton (PP – 6 blocks (leader) 28 points, 15 rebounds) Whitman (OXY – 32 points, 8 steals, 14 rebounds) and Zubke (26 points, 16 rebounds).

Occidental will be back in action on Jan. 12 when they travel to Claremont, Calif. to open play in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps with tip-off slated for 7:30 p.m.