LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Feb. 20, 2008) –
March Madness arrived early for those involved in Southern
California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference basketball tonight
at Rush Gymnasium as # 22 Occidental College and # 28 California
Lutheran University entered the night with identical 19-3, 9-2
SCIAC records in a battle for sole possession of first place. The
outcome was a repeat of their Jan. 26 meeting in Thousand Oaks,
Calif. as the Tigers took a 67-63 victory home along with the top
conference spot entering the final two SCIAC games of the season.
Oxy never trailed after opening up a 16-8 lead
over the first ten minutes of the game and added to that advantage,
going up by 10 with just over two minutes remaining in the first
half. Gemayal McBride was an unusual scorer,
pacing the Tigers with eight first half points on 4-for-6 shooting.
The Tigers used a 12-for-24 performance from the field in the
opening period to lead by four at the break, as Cal Lutheran hung
around, chipping away to make things close.
Coming out of the locker room, CLU quickly
pulled within two, the closest the game would be until the final
minute of action, on a jumper by Andrew Meier. Oxy went on an 8-3
run to regain a double-figure lead midway through the second half
with the largest gap at 13. The Kingsmen continued to battle back,
again pulling within a pair with 1:02 remaining in regulation.
Senior guard Connor Whitman
scored one of his 19 total points on a free-throw with 41 seconds
to play, giving the Tigers a 66-63 edge. Oxy's defense was
tough to the end as it had been all night as they denied CLU a pair
of three-point attempts. Chris Hunt sealed the
deal with a free-throw at the three-second mark, making it a
two-possession game.
In the final regular-season game for seven
seniors, many made it a memorable one. McBride led all players with
a season high 20-point performance while adding three assists and
five rebounds. “All season I have focused on assists, but
tonight there were open shooting opportunities and I took advantage
of them,” McBride said. “It was fun to shoot
tonight.”
Also turning in a solid performance was Hunt
who recorded his second double-double of the season as he poured in
13 points and grabbed 13 rebounds (five offensive). Whitman was the
final Tiger in double figures with 19 on 5-for-10 shooting,
including a 3-for-3 night from beyond the arc. Whitman also handed
out three assists and got a steal.
Chris Pitcher led all Oxy
players with four assists, adding a block, a steal and a pair of
rebounds, before fouling out late in the second half. Although the
offensive numbers were low tonight for Pitcher, his defense was
phenomenal and was key in the win.
Providing tough defense for the Tigers was
sophomore transfer Sean Anderson who grabbed eight
boards and recorded four blocks, adding seven points on 3-for-3
shooting from the field.
Oxy held the Kingsmen to a 39.1 field goal
percentage in both the first and second halves, bringing consistent
pressure to the perimeter. CLU shot just 1-for-8 from long range in
the second half, finishing with a three-point field goal percentage
of 20.
Overall the Tigers shot 46.2 percent from the
field and were 50% from the three-point line.
Bouncing back from a tough loss to
Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday night, the Tigers looked to be in fine
form.
“We practiced hard all week and we came
out focused and ready to play,” McBride offered after the
game.
The Tigers, who are currently ranked first in
the West Region, snapped a six-game Kingsmen winning streak as they
improved to 20-3, 10-2 in SCIAC action as CLU, the fifth ranked
team in the West Region, falls to 19-4, 9-3.
Oxy will travel to Whittier College on
Saturday night to play the Poets (12-10, 5-6 SCIAC) at 7:30 p.m. in
the Graham Athletics Center following a 5:00 p.m. tip-off between
the women's teams.
