Photo By Toby Gassner

Thousand Oaks, CA — Occidental's Tigers started off their conference strong against an undefeated Cal Lutheran University this week. 

In the first half, Oxy was prepared for Cal Lu's aggressiveness - the full court press was not in Cal Lu's favor as our Tigers were making great passes, leading to open shots and layups. Halfway through the first half, Occidental was up 19-11, and at one minute left the teams were scored at 35-33. It was not until Cal Lutheran's Ryan Grande and Desi Burrage both hit three pointers at the end of the first half that they finally took on a four point lead. 

In the second half both teams were sweating it out profusely; Andrew Waldman came in heavy with a nice jump shot and a clean strip and block to prevent Cal Lu from expanding their lead. Kyle Dosa, despite getting a hard hit that led to a bloody nose, and Waldman were both heavy helping hands for rebounds. Bringing in their usual hustle, Sydney Shipp, Anthony Hollerich, and Isaiah Jeannott all scored points for the team in the double digits. All that being said, Oxy was starting to get worn out by Cal Lu's aggressiveness, leaving their shooters open. 

Although Cal Lu won with a 16 point lead with a final score of 76-60, their best players Mason Johnson and Jacob Alonzo who both average over 20 points per game were only able to gain 9 and 11 points respectively, all due to Oxy's superb defense. Overall a hard, but well played game. 

Next game: Saturday, December 4th in La Verne, CA at the University of La Verne at 2:00 pm