LOS ANGELES — JJ Friedman went off in the first half and the Occidental men's basketball team shot the lights out, stunning defending SCIAC Champion Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 78-72 at Rush Gymnasium on Saturday.

Friedman, a 6-foot-5 reserve who can score points in a hurry, poured in 19 on 7 of 11 shooting and 3 of 4 from beyond the arc. The junior scored 16 in the first half, getting the Tigers out to a 41-29 lead.

As a group, it seemed like the Tigers couldn't miss from the outside, going 11 of 17 from deep. Spencer Levy went 3 of 4, Kory Hamane went 2 for 4, Jared Stuedemann was 2 for 2 and Austin Hawk even banked in a 3-pointer to close the first 20 minutes.

The Tigers lead got as large as 16 points on two different occasions in the second half. CMS made a late run, cutting the deficit to 75-72 when Jack Early banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 43 seconds left. But Oxy milked the clock and Juwan Rice exploded to the basket off of a crossover to his right, scooping in a layup to seal the game with 13 seconds left.

Levy finished with 14 points and six rebounds, and Andrew Johnson added 11 points and six rebounds. Rice scored 10 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists, but his biggest contribution came on the defensive end of the floor, holding 2013-14 SCIAC Player of the Year Tyler Gaffaney to 14 points on 5 of 15 shooting, 8 points less than his 22 points per game average. 

Oxy snaps a four-game losing streak and keeps its SCIAC postseason tournament hopes alive. The Tigers sit at 6-7 in sixth, needing Whittier (7-6) and Pomona-Pitzer (7-6) to stumble down the stretch. The Tigers can help their case with a win in their next game at Whittier on Tuesday at 7:30 pm. 

The Poets won the first matchup between the schools in overtime at Rush Gymnasium on Jan. 24, 81-86.

Pomona-Pitzer plays at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (9-4 SCIAC) on on Tuesday.

Oxy finishes the regular season at Caltech on Feb. 21 and then at home against Cal Lutheran on Feb. 24, needing at least two wins out of its remaining three games to make the playoffs, with several tiebreaker scenarios that could unfold.