LOS ANGELES — The Occidental men's basketball team cruised past West Coast Baptist for a 99-72 non-conference win at Rush Gymnasium on Monday.

Zach Baines was electric on offense, leading the Tigers with 23 points and 12 rebounds on 10 for 20 shooting from the field. Three of his rebounds were explosive tip dunks that helped Oxy overcome a slow, lethargic start on defense.

Austin DeWitz, who was named the SCIAC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, had 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for Oxy. Ryan Kaneshiro was outstanding passing out of the post with four points, eight assists and no turnovers, Caleb Yellin-Flaherty ran the court well, adding 14 points on 6 for 10 shooting with four offensive rebounds and five assists, and Jonny Crosthwaite added 11 points, five rebounds and five assists. Jacob Adler scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds off the bench, and Tyler Sweeney gave Oxy 10 solid minutes with four points and two rebounds.

Oxy had 31 assists as a group, moving the ball unselfishly, and controlled the offensive and defensive boards 50-28.

The Tigers gave up 16 points in the first 5 minutes before locking in on defense to win the first half 48-26.

"We learned a good lesson in the first half about playing with energy on the defensive end," Oxy head coach Brian Newhall said. "Once we started competing a little more on defense we were able to run and it sparked our offense."

The Eagles hung around just enough in both halves to make the game uncomfortable. Seth Hanna had an impressive 35 points, including six 3-pointers, and Nic Corl made all four of his 3-pointers in the second half, finishing with 15 points.

Season Impact: Oxy improves to 2-0 on the season.

Next Game: Oxy is back in action against Rhodes on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Rush Gym.