LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Men's basketball hosted the Skidmore College Thoroughbreds in Rush Gym on Thursday afternoon. A member of the Liberty League conference, Skidmore entered the day with a 3-5 overall record and a 0-3 conference record. 

Oxy started the day with a 5-4 overall record and a 0-1 SCIAC record. 

It would be the Thoroughbreds who would jump out to a quick 11-0 lead thanks in part to three 3-pointers early on. The Tigers hung in the game and kept the lead from getting out of control. 

Trailing by 13 with 6 minutes to go in the first half, Oxy went on a run that included two made baskets from Alex McCleery Brown and a Nasir Luna 3-pointer that had the Skidmore lead down to just 4 points. 

The Thoroughbreds responded with a 15-2 run to close the half and they took a 45-28 lead into the locker room. The Tigers continued to refuse to give up as they opened the second half with a 7-0 run to get the lead back down to 10 points. 

Skidmore also continued to respond whenever Oxy went on a run and eventually got their lead back up to 20. After another nice Oxy run, layups from Ethan Hanning and Nicky Clotfelter got Oxy back to within single digits, trailing only by 9.

With less than 10 minutes to play, the Tigers struck for another 9-0 scoring run and trailed only 67-60, but the Thoroughbreds found ways to make baskets after each Oxy make to keep them at bay. 

Things got exciting at the end of the game when Nasir Luna knocked down a 3-pointer, and then a steal on the in-bound led to another quick layup for a 5-0 run in the blink of an eye. 

Unfortunately there was not enough time left in the game and the Tigers were forced to foul to have a chance, and Skidmore would get the win by a score of 75-71. Oxy is now 5-5 on the year. 

BY THE NUMBERS

Skidmore was able to get out to a big lead often thanks to their 3-point shooting, as they went 13 of 31 from beyond the arc.

Oxy's leading scorer in this one was Nasir Luna who scored 19 points on 8-16 shooting from the field and 3-7 shooting from 3-point land. Luna also had 6 rebounds and 3 assists in the game. 

 Ethan Hanning had a great game off the bench for the Tigers, scoring 18 points by making 9 of his 14 shots. Nicky Clotfelter has a strong return from an injury, coming off the bench in this one and scoring 10 points.

 UP NEXT

The Tigers will be back in action on Saturday, January 4th when they resume SCIAC play against the Caltech Beavers on the road in Pasadena.