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Los Angeles, CA — The Occidental men's basketball team traveled to La Verne on Wednesday to face off against the Leopards. 

The Tigers got off to a quick start in this one as Andrew Waldman drained a 3-pointer. Sydney Shipp quickly followed with a 3 of his own and then made two from the free throw line to give the Tigers an 8-0 lead to start the game. 

Oxy would keep the Leopards at bay for most of the 1st half but the Leopards made a push with some quick baskets to get the game to a 2-point contest with 12 minutes left in the half. Aiden Williams responded with a 3-pointer followed by a Shipp layup and a Kyle Dosa made layup. Waldman then got to the line and made two free throws and the Tigers lead had ballooned back up to 10 points. 

The Tigers would get their lead all the way up to 17 points after a Williams made basket, but the Leopards would not go away in this one. La Verne was able to find some open shots and cash them in to get the lead down to only 9 points going into halftime. 

Waldman would come out hot in the 2nd half and make his first two shots and Shipp then made a nice layup to get the lead to 45-35 Tigers. The Leopards kept fighting to stay in the game but Shipp and Waldman were determined to keep the lead. Anthony Hollerich made a layup with 11 minutes remaining in the game to get the lead to 61-44 but La Verne responded quickly once again with a 3-pointer. 

With less than 10 minutes remaining in the game La Verne started to make some 3-pointers to really cut into the Oxy lead and get back in the game. With 5 minutes left in the game the score was 66-61 and La Verne was at the free throw line for 2. They made them both and it was a 3-point game with 4 minutes left. 

Waldman responded with a clutch jump shot to give the Tigers some momentum back. Dosa then got to the line and made 1 of 2 to make it a 4-point game. After La Verne made 1 of 2 at the line to get the game to within 2 points, Waldman would get to his spot and knock down another clutch jumper to give Oxy a 4-point lead with a minute to go. 

Oxy would make clutch defensive stops and go on to win 74-70 to pick up a huge SCIAC win. Waldman finished with 23 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Shipp had 19 points, 4 assists and 3 steals. 

Hollerich had 12 points and 8 rebounds and Dosa had 7 points and 7 rebounds. 

Next Game: The Tigers will look to get another win in a matchup with Redlands on January 21st.