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Los Angeles, CA — The Occidental men's basketball team faced off with California Lutheran University on Wednesday night.

Oxy had a strong start to the game as each Oxy starter made a basket in the first 4 and a half minutes of play, capped off by an Aiden Wiliams 3-pointer that gave Oxy a 11-5 lead. Nicky Clotfelter was getting into the paint and making layups early on in this game as one of his layups gave Oxy a 15-8 lead.

After Williams knocked down another 3-pointer, Jacob Hamermesh got in on the scoring and made a jumper to get the Oxy lead to 20-13. Cal Lu would strike for a quick 5-0 run to get the lead down to 2 before Andrew Waldman stretched it back to 4 with a made layup.

The Kingsmen were able to prevent the Tigers from getting their lead up into double digits, and the 1st half would come to a close with the score being 29-26 in favor of the Tigers. Oxy opened the 2nd half with a layup from Micah Breaux and another 3-pointer from Aiden Williams.

Cal Lu would tie the game at 37 with 13 and a half minutes left after making a 3-pointer and take the lead on another 3 shortly after. Jacob Koretz responded with a 3-pointer of his own to tie the game and then both teams had small runs on offense but eventually Cal Lu lead by 7 with 9 minutes to play. 

Oxy quickly responded as Koretz hit another 3-pointer and Waldman made a layup to get the lead down to 2 and Micah Breaux tied the game at 51 with a layup. The Tigers took the lead on another Breaux made layup and extended the lead to 4 when Williams cashed in on a layup attempt as well.

The Kingsmen responded to take a 1 point lead with 1:34 left in the game. The Cal Lu lead wa up to 3 when Aiden Williams made a layup to get it to 1 and Nicky Clotfelter made the game tying free throw with 10 seconds left. Cal Lu missed their shot at a game-winning basket and the game went into overtime with a score of 62-62.

With 5 more minutes of play, Andrew Waldman came out and quickly hit a 3-pointer. Cal Lu tied the game at 65 before Koretz made a layup to make it 67-65 but again the Kinsmen tied it at 67. Cal Lu eventually hit a 3-pointer that  made the score 72-70 Kingsmen and then made a layup to make it 74-70. 

Micah Breaux brought Oxy to within 2 with a jumper with 39 seconds left, but the Kingsmen would get to the free throw line and secure the game by knocking them down. The final score of the game would be 81-77 in favor of Cal Lu.

Andrew Waldman and Nicky Clotfleter led Oxy in this game, each securing a double double in points and rebounds. All 5 Oxy starters scored in double figures and Nicky Clotfelter led Oxy with 4 assists. Oxy's SCIAC record is now 7-6 as they sit in a tie with Chapman for the 4th seed in the SCIAC with 3 games remaining on the schedule. The Tigers will battle the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens on the road on Wednesday, February 14th.