LA VERNE, Calif.– All claws were out on the court tonight as the Occidental College Tigers traveled to face off with the University of La Verne Leopards. The Black and Orange pushed a 26-19 lead at halftime to a 61-49 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory tonight to stretch their win-streak to three behind solid execution and another strong defensive showing

In the opening half, six of the seven players who stepped on the hardwood scored as the Tigers combined to shoot 48 percent from the field. Deshun McCoy led all players with a 10-point effort while Drew Dockweiler added six.

A feisty home crowd got loud as the Leos opened the second stanza on a 7-0 run to knot things at 26-26. With 15:05 to play the home team took a 30-28 lead, their only advantage of the game. On the next possession Kris Montoya drove through the Leopards' defenders and scored in the paint, following with the and-one to give Oxy a 31-30 lead, one the Black and Orange would not relinquish for the remainder of the evening.

Although ULV got back within a point, Jack Hanley followed up with his only three-pointer of the game. La Verne was down by a pair when Oxy went on an 8-0 run of their own, capped off by a pair of Hanley free-throws after the ULV bench was tagged with a technical foul. With just under four minutes to play McCoy knocked down a free-throw for a 10 point lead.

Oxy would push their lead to 14 points, twice, with the final showing a 13-point victory. Overall the Tigers shot 44 percent from the field, scoring 24 points in the paint. McCoy led all Tigers with 16 points while both Dockweiler and Jake Copithorne (5-for-7) finished with 10 apiece.

"Tonight was a complete team effort," Head Coach Brian Newhall noted, "A variety of people contributed in different spots. We have had different people step up on different nights on the offensive side of things, making us a much tougher team to prepare for."

Each Tiger  who played tonight added to the total.

In the opening half, Oxy took no trips to the charity stripe, but went 12-for-14 in the second half with Montoya hitting 3-for-3.

Coming off the bench in crunch time, knowing he was going to get fouled Nick Robinson came through when called upon.

"I felt confident going into the game; I knew what I had to do, and I did it," Robinson shared after going 2-for-2 in less than a minute of play.

The University of La Verne (12-9, 7-3 SCIAC) slightly out-rebounded the Tigers 33-31 with one more offensive rebound (10) than Oxy. Austin Napolitano led all players with nine boards while Oxy guard Sam Stapleton came down with a team-high seven for the Black and Orange. McCoy finished with six, four of which came on the offensive end of the court and Ty Cobb was next in line with five.

"Deshun had an outstanding game on the offensive boards with three putbacks at critical times," Newhall said.

Cobb was also 2-for-2 from the field, finishing with five points and three assists. Hanley chipped in with five points as well, adding a game-high five assists and a key block with under two minutes to play. Montoya recorded a block, too.

Once again defense was the name of the game. Occidental, the SCIAC leader in scoring defense as well as field goal percentage held the Leopards, without a pair of starters, to just 19 first half points and an overall 35 shooting percentage on the night.

"La Verne punished us in the paint tonight," Newhall added, "We were fortunate that they were cold from the three point line (2-for-12)."

Tonight the Tigers also took care of the basketball with just nine turnovers. Stapleton and Montoya each came away with a pair of steals.

Newhall believes that his squad is making gradual progress every day in practice and in every game they play.

"We need to continue to focus, work hard on defensive and battle on the glass."

Despite a 20 point night from Tyler Hoyt, including a 5-for-7 first half with eight total rebounds, and a 13-point, nine rebound night from Napolitano, playing with a thin bench hurt the Leos, who earlier this season defeated the Tigers 52-49 at Rush Gymnasium.

As the Tigers cycle through the second round of league play the freshmen take the court with more confidence every day.

"Experience is helping us," Dockweiler said, "The chemistry that we have as freshman has been coming together really well."

When asked about his role and his improvements on the court he credited it to solid practices and increased minutes on the court during games.

"I am more confident with the ball in my hands and my teammates are finding me when I am open, allowing me to execute better," he added.

All around the league, action heated up as there remains a log-jam among the SCIAC standings. Caltech nearly earned their first SCIAC victory in more than 26 years, falling 60-54 to Pomona-Pitzer.

"I am sure that Coach Kats will have the Hens ready for Saturday night," Newhall finished.

Occidental (11-10, 5-5 SCIAC) travels to PP on Saturday night to tip-off with the Sagehens at 7:00 p.m. following the women's tilt at 5:00 p.m.

Article by Tracy Maple, Sports Information Director