ORANGE — If you like high-scoring basketball and drama, then Saturday afternoon's matchup between Occidental and Chapman was for you.

Kris Montoya busted through his slump with the big shot, Juwan Rice came up with a handful of key loose balls and the Tigers played their best game in two years to pull off a thrilling 99-94 overtime win at Chapman on Saturday.

Oxy improves to 7-8 overall and 3-4 in SCIAC play. Chapman falls to 7-8 and 3-3.

With a 93-91 lead, 40 seconds left in OT and the shot clock winding down, Montoya walked into a 3-pointer on an isolation play from the right wing, delivering the dagger that made it a two-possession game.

"As soon as he started to back up I knew I was shooting," Montoya said. "It was a great feeling to see the ball go through the net and an even better feeling when the buzzer sounded."

Montoya, who's had a string of subpar performances in the last four games, finished with a team-high 24 points on 9 of 17 from the field and 3 of 4 from the 3-point line.

Spencer Levy broke through Chapman's last-chance defensive effort with 20 seconds left and found Andrew Johnson wide open underneath the basket for a powerful one-handed dunk and final icing on the cake.

"I couldn't be more proud of our entire team for the way we competed and battled back tonight," Oxy head coach Brian Newhall said. "Our guys made plays when they had to. Kris obviously hit the big shot, but I thought Kory's play at point guard sparked us and Juwan's hustle plays were huge."

Levy finished with 18 points for Oxy, Kory Hamane scored 14 and Rice recorded his fourth double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. He came up with five rebounds and a steal in overtime alone to give Oxy extra possessions.

"Juwan just keeps making winning plays," Newhall said. "Most of them don't have a stat. He defends, he gets deflections and does all the little things that make us a better team."

The game couldn't have started much worse for the Tigers as they fell into an 18-4 hole just 5 minutes into the first half when Colin Zavrsnick scored three of his game-high 31 points from beyond the arc.

Zavrsnick also sent the game into overtime by making two free throws after being fouled as he went up for a layup with 12 seconds left in regulation.

Oxy turned the momentum with full-court pressure and lots of contributions from its bench to take a 46-42 lead into the break. The Tigers sped up Chapman, forced contested shots and scored a flurry of points in transition. Oxy had just 12 points by the 12-minute mark before exploding to finish the half with 34 more.

"Our bench bailed us out, especially in the first half," Newhall said. "Our pressure was the best it's been and we were able to force our tempo."

The Tigers only trailed for two brief moments in the second half as the game's pace stayed frantic.

Taylor Hamasaki scored 22 points for the Panthers.

Both teams spent a lot of time at the free throw line in a tightly officiated game. Chapman was 26 for 37 from the line and the Tigers were 25 of 33.

Oxy returns to action on Wednesday at La Verne at 7:30 p.m.