Photo by samsphotoservices.com

Los Angeles, CA – Occidental played an extremely competitive game this last Wednesday against Pomona-Pitzer college.

Starting off in Oxy's possession, Andrew Waldman was seen back in the game ready to put up a fight. This was made obvious as he managed to score 18 points during the first half alone, the most points scored by any player during the entire game. 

Additionally, Oxy's cohesion as a full team was seen in full throttle during this game as the coaches threw in more players - Ryan Hakl, Jacob Lopez, and Aden Nolet notably getting more game time - and the team maintaining great communication throughout. As the first half continued, Aiden Williams' 3-point shots riled up the audience, Anthony Hollerich's rebounds cleared the board, and Pomona's frustration became obvious through their consistent fouls. The first half ended with Oxy 34-48, however Oxy was unphased by this lag. Ultimately, Oxy's ability to take this game in the bag was completely feasible; their free throw percentage was higher throughout the game (44.4% vs 36.0%) and the Tigers had stronger 3-point shooters (84.6% vs 77.8%). Not to mention the team had substantially less turnovers than the Sagehens who showed difficulty keeping the ball. 

These flaws in Pomona's skillset became obvious during the second half as the game really picked up. It was not until about 9 minutes left on the clock, after Williams had a saucy steal, that the Tiger's found their spark again. At 8:36, Waldman made a jump shot followed by a smooth 3-pointer, putting the score at 60-70. At 6 minutes on the clock, Hollerich made another 3-point shot that took the score to 63-75; this was then followed by an insane team effort that allowed Nolet to get another 3 point shot in, Lopez and Hollerich sneaking some layups against Pomona, and Williams making yet another perfect 3-point shot. With just a minute forty left on the clock, this brought the score to 81-83. As Pomona became more flustered, with 27 seconds left on the clock, Lopez's layup closed the gap to just one point between the two teams. Unfortunately for Oxy, as the ball was in Pomona's possession, the opponents' team was saved by the buzzer. Great efforts on both sides and an insane comeback for Oxy during the second half. 

Next game: On Saturday, February 19th Oxy will be playing the University of La Verne at 2:00pm in Rush Gymnasium.