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Los Angeles, CA — The Occidental Tigers men's basketball team was in action on Saturday afternoon in a matchup with the Redlands Bulldogs in Rush Gymnasium. Oxy headed into the contest at 7-7 in the SCIAC and looking for a win to keep their playoff chances alive. 

Oxy struck first in the game with a 3-pointer from Jacob Koretz but Redlands responded with three 3-pointers in a row to go on a quick 9-0 run and take a 9-3 lead. Oxy tied the game after Aiden Williams made a 3-pointer and Chase Miller made a layup to even the score at 9 apiece. 

The Bulldogs put together a 7-1 run to take a 17-10 lead with 12:51 remaining in the 1st half. Oxy responded with a 6-0 that included a layup from Miller, a layup from Ryan Hakl and a jumper from Andrew Waldman to get the score to 17-16 in favor of Redlands. 

Redlands lead had gotten up to 28-19 before Koretz knocked down another 3-pointer and Nicky Clotfelter threw down a dunk with an assist from Micah Breaux. The Tigers had been keeping the Redlands lead from getting into double digits until the Bulldogs closed the half strong and took a 47-35 lead into halftime. 

Oxy was quick to cut into the lead in the 2nd half as Koretz hit a 3-pointer followed by Williams knocking down a jumper and Koretz following with a made jumper of his own on the following possession to get the lead down to 7. 

Oxy had the lead back down to 3 points when Nicky Clotfelter converted on a huge 3-point play by getting the layup plus the foul to make the score 52-49. Aiden Williams would cash in on a clutch 3-pointer to tie the game at 56. The Tigers took a 3 point lead after Micah Breaux went 2-2 from the line and made it 61-58 Tigers.

The Bulldogs quickly responded with a 3-pointer and took the lead back at the free throw line on the following possession. Redlands had their lead up to 7 when Andrew Waldman responded with a layup to get it back down to 5 points. 

Redlands was able to catch fire from 3-point range to close out the game and forced Oxy to have to foul in hopes of a comeback. The Bulldogs would win the game by a score of 85-69. Andrew Waldman led Oxy in the game with 17 points and 5 rebounds, and Jacob Koretz had 16 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds. 

Aiden Williams knocked down 4 of 8 3-pointers and scored 14 points. Nicky Clotfelter had two dunks in the game and totaled 9 points and 4 rebounds. With the loss the Tigers fall to 7-8 in SCIAC play and out of SCIAC postseason tournament contention, but Oxy's season was full of highlights as the Oxy faithful enjoyed rooting on their Tigers.

The Tigers' next game will be on Senior Night, when they take on the Caltech Beavers in a matchup in Rush Gym on Tuesday, February 20th at 7pm. Be sure to come out to celebrate sharpshooting senior Aiden Williams and his accomplishments on and off the court at Occidental.