PASADENA — Closing out close games starts with defense.

In a back-and-forth physical duel against Caltech at a hostile Braun Athletic Center, the Occidental men's basketball team held the Beavers to just five free-throws and a last-second layup over the final 5:15 of play to pick up a relatively comfortable 70-61 win, sweeping the season series.

"In the locker room at halftime, we told each other that we have to have each other's backs—we're not at home," senior Eric Leider (Las Vegas) said, who put in 16 points. "We came out in the second half and rebounded well on defense, stayed in front of our guys, which was big down the stretch.

"A lot of pride was on the line."

While the Tigers (2-8 SCIAC, 7-12 overall) were getting stops, they made enough plays on the offensive end to give them some breathing room.

Back-to-back threes by Leider (Las Vegas) with 13:13 to go started the push, putting his team up by seven.

Despite a 10-point Oxy lead a few minutes later, Caltech (0-11 SCIAC, 1-19 overall) wouldn't go away. KC Emezie caught the ball in transition for an and-1 layup with 6:05 to go, as his team trailed by five.

Then Leider struck again with a dagger jumper in the short corner with 2:41 left to put Oxy up by 11 (65-54), halting Caltech's comeback. From thereon out, Oxy was able to milk the clock and put in free-throws once the Beavers were forced to foul.

"Our guys stepped up and played a gutsy game against a well-coached and very physical Caltech team," Occidental head coach Brian Newhall said. "Leider really came through in crunch time."

Though energized defense won the game, it was not without its flaws. The Tigers oftentimes found themselves fouling on traps, letting the Beavers get to the free-throw line in multiple bonus situations.

Oxy was able to take an eight point lead in the first half due to the aggressive play of the frontcourt. Conrad Liebowitz (Santa Monica) and David Yetenikyan (Glendale) both took advantage of the smaller Caltech line inside. They combined for 18 of the team's 33 first-half points. Yetenikyan finished with 14 points and nine rebounds on a perfect 7-for-7 from the field, and Liebowitz added 10 points and seven boards. Ty Cobb cleaned up the basket, finishing with nine rebounds, five of which were offensive.

Ryan Chong (San Diego) had a game-high 18 points and five assists.

Caltech was led by 17 points from both Emezie and Andrew Hogue, who also tallied nine rebounds. Michael Edwards added 10 points.

Oxy will face Cal Lutheran for the second time this season at Rush Gymnasium on Saturday at 7 p.m.

"Our team is excited about the re-match," Newhall said.

Mirin Fader is the Oxy men's basketball beat writer. She also writes feature stories on Oxy athletes, coaches and alums. Mirin's work has appeared in Clippers.com, Dime magazine and WNBA.com (LA Sparks). All of her work, including her archived Oxy stories can be found at her website: mirinfader.com