Los Angeles, CA — Oxy men's basketball was in action for their second game in as many nights in Rush Gym on Saturday. The visiting Schreiner University Mountaineers entered this match up with a 2-1 record in 3 games thus far this season. 

The Mountaineers worked their way into the paint early on in the first half, scoring 10 of their first 18 points in the paint. 

Oxy was trailing early but got within 2 points of the lead when Jacob Hamermesh got the offensive board on his own miss and found Nicky Clotfelter open under the hoop for an easy basket. 

Trailing 18-10 after 6 minutes of play, Oxy cut into the lead starting with a put back layup from Micah Breaux on a missed 3-point attempt. 

Nasir Luna knocked down a 3-pointer on the next possession, and a technical foul shot for a flopping violation was made by Breaux to complete a 4-point Tiger possession to get Oxy within 4 points of the lead. 

Alex Mcleery Brown got in on the offensive rebounding, cleaning up a missed layup for an easy basket before also scoring a layup on the next possession after a Mountaineer miss on the other end, bringing the score to 22-20 Schreiner with 11 minutes to play in the first half.

After nearly losing the ball on a turnover on a following possession, the ball was recovered by Oxy at half court and Hamermesh passed to an open Henry Wilson who cashed in on a 3-pointer to get the Tigers within a point of the lead. 

With 6 minutes to play in the half Hamermesh found Breaux open on a cut to the basket that Breaux finished with  a sweet reverse layup to cut the Mountaineer lead to 34-32. Henry Wilson would knock down a three to stop the bleeding on a Schreiner scoring run, but the Mountaineers led 49-39 heading into halftime.

Coming out of the half, Nasir Luna cashed in on an open look at a 3-pointer that cut the lead back down to double digits early on. 

Down 9 points and looking to create some energy with just under 15 minutes to play, Micah Breaux came up with an emphatic block on a Mountaineer drive to the hoop which got the crowd in Rush Gym on their feet instantly. 

Strong 3-point shooting allowed Schreiner to take a large lead that was high as 16 points before Oxy put together a quick 9-0 run highlighted by a Clotfelter 3-pointer and two layups from Alex Mcleery Brown that brought the score to 77-70 Schreiner with 6:35 to play. 

The Mountaineers were able to hold off the Tigers' attempts to put scoring runs together by making big 3's down the stretch to seal the victory. The final score of the game would be 95-82 Mountaineers. 

Nicky Clotfelter was the team leader in scoring with 25 points in the game on an efficient 11-16 shooting from the field. Jacob Hamermesh was finding the open teammate all game, leading the team with 10 assists while also grabbing 9 boards. 

Oxy is now 2-1 on the year and will look to rebound against California Miramar University on Saturday, November 23rd at 4:00pm in Rush Gym.