CLAREMONT, Calif.–  The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference season opener did not end quite the way the Tigers would have liked, despite a tight first half. Occidental fell short, 57-50 on the road this evening.

The teams were never separated by more than four points in the first half as CMS held a slight 21-19 edge at the intermission.

Oxy's legs were cold coming out of the locker rooms, though, as the Stags used a 10-0 run over the first two minutes of the second stanza to steal the momentum. A 13-point gap at 41-27 was the largest lead that CMS would hold as the Tigers clawed their way back into things. Sam Stapleton connected for a three-pointer with 1:28 to play and Jack Hanley made a last second lay-up, but it was not enough.

Occidental shot 36 percent from the floor while Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (5-6, 1-0 SCIAC) was 41 percent on the evening and CMS held a three-point shooting edge (47 percent to Oxy's 40 percent) as well. Each team was 12-for-17 at the free-throw line. Hanley led all players with 19 points and Deshun McCoy, last week's SCIAC Athlete of the Week, added 12 in just 27 minutes. Hanley added three assists and McCoy finished with a block. Oxy's leading scorer, Kris Montoya, was limited to just two points tonight. No Stags player reached double figures in the contest as Tyler Gaffaney led the team with nine.

On the glass the Black and Orange slightly out-rebounded CMS, 31-30, and came down with two more (eight) offensive rebounds, which led to 11 points. McCoy led the Tigers with nine rebounds as Jake Copithorne came down with eight. Joseph Anderson grabbed 10 for CMS.

Both teams took care of the basketball tonight, committing a combined 16 turnovers, eight apiece, and CMS used those miscues for nine points. Oxy came up with three steals while CMS tallied four.

Occidental (6-6, 0-1) returns to Rush Gymnasium on Wednesday, Jan. 12 when they tip-off with the Leopards from the University of La Verne (5-7, 0-1) at 7:30 p.m.

Article by Tracy Maple, Sports Information Director