CLAREMONT, Calif.– Occidental College eliminated an eight point half-time deficit and took their first lead of the evening with 3:46 remaining in regulation amidst a 17-0 run as the Tigers earned a 56-49 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens to stretch their win-streak to four.
Down by 11 with 8:18 to play, the ferocious Tigers went on an incredible 17-0 run over seven minutes. A Kris Montoya three-pointer sparked the run, which was capped off by a pair of free-throws from Jack Hanley. The middle of that run saw Hanley, who was 6-for-7 from the field on the night, score five more points and Deshun McCoy chip in with seven as well.
"Jack was nails in crunch time; he stepped up with some big offensive plays,'" head coach Brian Newhall added, "Deshun had a great offensive game going 8-12 from the floor."
The defining moment for the Tigers came with 2:47 to play when a Tigers' turnover led to a fast break by the Sagehens' that seemed as if to break the scoreless streak, but the ball circled the rim and landed in the hands of Sam Stapleton. Jake Copithorne quickly found McCoy on an alley-oop to ignite the bench. McCoy was fouled on the play, finishing the and-one.
"Pomona-Pitzer completely outplayed us for 35 minutes," Newhall said following the game. "We were extremely lucky to get out of there with a win. We are a very young team learning how to compete for two halves."
And compete they did.
Hanley would add two more free throws, to pad the Tigers' lead. He finish the night 6-for-6 from the charity stripe after going 2-for-2 from three-point range for a team-high 20 points. McCoy was right behind with 19, coming alive in the second half. Drew Dockweiler added seven points to the total tonight.
Occidental shot 53 percent from the field, limiting the Hens' to a 37 percent shooting night, and came down with 10 more rebounds (28) than the host squad. PP grabbed five offensive boards, which they converted into four second chance points.
McCoy and Ty Cobb each came down with six rebounds to share the game-high. Copithorne had five and Stapleton had four. Montoya recorded the only Tigers' block of the game and grabbed two rebounds as well. He, Cobb, Dockweiler and Hanley were responsible for the four Oxy steals in the game.
Trailing 29-21 at the intermission, a lackadaisical opening half was left in the locker room as the Tigers made some adjustments and quickly put that game-plan into action.
"We had some bad breakdowns in our defensive rotations during the first half, leaving their best shooters wide open and it hurt us," Newhall noted.
Out of the locker room a fiery Oxy squad went on a 6-1 run. The Sagehens battled and kept the Black and Orange guessing early in the second half, but the desire to dig down and steal the win burned through in the eyes of the Tigers.
In other SCIAC action, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps defeated the University of La Verne and Cal Lutheran University defeated the University of Redlands.
"Whittier blew out a good Caltech team tonight," Newhall went on, "They dominated us at home earlier this season so we will try to regroup at practice this week and hopefully come to compete on Wednesday night."
Occidental (12-10, 6-5 SCIAC) returns to Rush Gymnasium Feb. 16, to tip off with the Whittier College (11-11, 6-5) Poets at 7:30 p.m.
Article by Tracy Maple, Sports Information Director
