LOS ANGELES — The Tigers found themselves again close to a win, but not close enough.

The Occidental men's basketball team (4-6), remaining unfazed this season by early deficits, dropped another strong comeback effort after trailing by 16 points early, this time to the hot-shooting Chapman University (7-4) 73-70.

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Opening the second half with a 12-3 run to get back in the game, Oxy overcame a tough first half where it seemed like everything went in for Chapman, who shot a soaring 85 percent from behind the arc, and 65 percent from the field. Led by Jordan Young's five threes (19 points total) and Brandon Lin's 16 points, Chapman made so many shots that collectively the Tigers were only able to grab four boards at the break.

"We didn't roll over," Occidental coach Brian Newhall said. "We could have rolled over tonight, and we could have against Widener, when we were down both times early. But we didn't—We fought back, and the character of this team proves that."

After clawing their way back with a more energized defense, the Tigers looked to Sam Stapleton (Los Angeles), who hit a pull-up three to bring the Tigers within five with over a minute to go.  

The junior guard came up big again as Chapman turned the ball over on the following possession. With under a minute left on the clock, Stapleton drove in for a layup to cut the lead to three.

Though Chapman again turned the ball over, Stapleton missed a contested shot in the lane, and the Tigers were forced to foul. After Chapman missed the one and one free-throw, Jack Hanley (Seattle) tried to draw the foul on a pull-up three, but didn't get the call as time ran out.

Oxy finished the game matching the Panthers offensively, as both shot around 51 percent. The Tigers even had four players reach double digits: Deshun McCoy (Los Angeles) scored 20, Stapleton finished with 12, Conrad Liebowitz (Santa Monica) added 13, and Jake Copithorne (Newton Centre, MA) chipped in with 10. Hanley had 8 points, and Nick Robinson (Palo Alto) sparked Oxy's run, hitting a three and a layup to ignite the team.

Oxy got more defensive stops as the game continued, forcing 14 turnovers as well.

But it was the early deficit that buried them.  

Similar situations earlier this season against Widener, West Coast Baptist, Pacifica, and St. Thomas, have the Tigers wondering what it will take to get over the comeback hump and pull off the win.

 "We've got to play a whole forty minute game," McCoy said. "Not thirty-five, not thirty-six. As the game progressed we picked it up a lot more, but couldn't recover from those early minutes when they came out harder than we did."

"Our second half proved we can play with anybody," said Stapleton. "But to be the team we want to be, we have to put together one hundred percent energy the whole game."

Oxy will look to get a win as they take on Pacifica for the second time this season at Rush gymnasium on Jan. 3.

"We're hungry for that win," Stapleton said. "We all want to win. We will do whatever it takes to win the game."