No. 5 CLAREMONT-MUDD-SCRIPPS 14, OCCIDENTAL 8

LOS ANGELES — The Oxy men's water polo team had its full squad healthy for the first time all season and outscored CMS 5-4 in the second half, but overcoming a slow second quarter was too tall of a task in a 14-8 loss to the Stags at Taylor Pool on Saturday.

Sam Akiyama led all scorers with four goals, freshman Taylor Russell scored twice and sophomore Paul Bergevin had one goal and four steals for Oxy.

Down 4-2 in the second the quarter, the Stags went on a 5-0 run led by Tanner Cullen, who had three goals during the stretch.

Freshman Matt Weiser stopped the bleading with Oxy's only goal in the quarter and his only goal of the game.

In the second half, the Tigers used great ball control to limit turnovers and created more offensive opportunities. Jack Sinclair finished with a team-high four assists.

"I was pleased with the way we were able to stick to our game plan." Oxy head coach Larry Zubrin said. "Even when things weren't working, we didn't lose our cool and that kept us in the game and led to a much better second half."

Oxy returns to action on Wednesday against No. 3 Chapman at Taylor Pool at 4 p.m.

BOX SCORE                         1st     2nd     3rd     4th     TOTAL

Occidental                            2        1         2        3        8

CMS                                      4        6         1        3        14

Occidental Stats:

Goals/Attempts: Akiyama-4/6, Russell-2/3, Bergevin-1/4, Weiser-1/3

Steals: Bergevin-4, Heffner-3, Florsheim-2, Rothwell-1, Franscioni-1, Akiyama-1, Sinclair-2

Assists: Sinclair-4, Rodriguez-1, Bergevin-1, Virshup-1

Turn-Overs: Munet-4, Heffner-2, Russell-1, Rothwell-1, Bergevin-1, Akiyama-1, Sinclair-1

Field Blocks: Russell-1, Rothwell-2

Exclusions/Drawn: Heffner-3/0, Virshup-2/0, Rothwell-2/1, Munet-1/1, Rodrgiuez-0/2, Weiser-1/0, Bergevin-0/1, Franscioni-0/2, Akiyama-2/0, Bass-0/1

Saves: Florsheim-11/14