Men's Basketball | 10/31/2026 8:22:00 AM
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Occidental men's basketball is coming off one of its most successful seasons in recent years and will look to build on its postseason run a season ago while navigating changes to the team's roster.
Under head coach Brian Newhall and assistant coaches Dominic Maynes, Kebu Stewart, Davey McEliece and Aiden Williams the Tigers finished tied for third in the SCIAC in the 2025-26 regular season with an 11-5 conference record. Entering the SCIAC tournament as the fourth seed, Oxy defeated Cal Lutheran 88-84 in the first round, earning the program's first tournament win since the 2018-19 season.
The Tiger's offense was a key strength a season ago as the team averaged 83.8 points per game, second only to the Redlands Bulldogs in the conference. The Tigers will look to build upon that scoring average as the offense will once again be led by offensive coordinator Dominic Maynes.
Occidental is also coming off a season in which they led the conference in field goal percentage, shooting 48.9% from the field and 36.5% from 3-point range. Occidental was also third in the conference in assists with 460 assists, showing the team's offense emphasizes passing, cutting and sharing the ball.
Oxy's defense and rebounding will be just as high of priorities as the offense heading into season. The defense is led by defensive coordinator Davey McEliece who will look to help the team build on their defense from the 2025-26 season. The Tigers were first in the conference in rebounds per game last season, averaging 42.2 rebounds per game. Oxy totaled 185 steals and 88 blocks a season ago, and will aim to continue to be a strong defensive-focused team that is difficult to score on.
With a large incoming class and several departures from last year's postseason team, Oxy will look to establish a new identity while remaining one of the conference's top contenders.
HUMBLE AND HUNGRY - BRAND NEW LOOK
Occidental enters the season with a roster that features a significant number of first-year players joining the team's players who have experience competing in the SCIAC.
The Tigers will be without several players from last year's squad including graduating seniors Mateo Tangaan, Jacob Koretz, Ethan Hanning and Chase Miller. The loss of First Team All-SCIAC guards Nasir Luna and Alex McCleery-Brown will provide the opportunity for players to step into larger scoring roles as the two guards were a large part of the team's offensive attack.
Peter Noble is a 6-foot-2 junior and is one of the team's best sharpshooters and Atticus Boba is a 6-foot-3 junior who provides constant energy and athleticism while on the court. Noble and Boba will have the potential to provide the scoring that was lost from a year ago with their skillsets.
Seniors Micah Breaux and Daniel Ribeiro also headline the returning veteran presence and will look to round out their career with strong senior campaigns while sophomores Isaiah Gibson and Knox Riemondi, along with junior Silas Coles will look to earn key roles in the team's lineup rotations.
James Taras, a 6-foot-4 sophomore transfer from Nebraska Wesleyan, and Varun Madabhush Jr., a 6-foot-5 junior transfer from Humboldt State, will provide size for the Tigers and look to become frontline players for the Tigers this season.
Sam Seiden, Elias Flaim, and Kai Shadan are also all newcomers to the team this season and they will look to patrol the perimeter for the Tigers throughout the season. Forwards Mawa Silvestro and Austin Sheepo have emerged as top first-year talents and will look to add size to the frontcourt, with Sheepo standing at 6-foot-6 and Silvestro standing at 6-foot-5.
The incoming group of players features 15 first-year players who will look to earn opportunities on the varsity roster while developing on the developmental team that includes guards Burke Landrum, Conor Goss, Balin Meza, Griffin Berschneider, Miles Wurmfeld, Dean Jones, Dillon Casey, Ryan Seto, Silas Brockway, Clemente Pappoe, Shiva Srinivasan, Montauk Margolies, Paolo Varillas and Jacob Hsu.
NON-CONFERENCE OUTLOOK
Oxy opens up non-conference play with a non-SCIAC matchup against the Caltech Beavers on November 7 for a renewal of the 110 Rivalry game before welcoming Nebraska Wesleyan to Rush Gym on November 13, a team that went 18-8 a season ago and earned a spot in the American Rivers Conference Tournament.
The Tigers then host Linfield University on November 20 and the University of Dallas on November 22. One of the toughest non-conference matchups of the season may come against Bates College on December 16 in Rush Gym. Bates went 18-9 a season ago and earned their second ever trip to the NCAA Division III Championship. The Bobcats' senior Babacar Pouye is one of their key players and a First Team All-NESCAC selection, D3Hoops.com third team All-Region selection and D3Hoops.com Preseason Fifth Team All-American.
The non-conference schedule is rounded out by matchups with Illinois College on December 19 and Wilkes University on December 29.
CONFERENCE OUTLOOK
Occidental opens SCIAC play with a home matchup on November 24 against the Chapman Panthers, a team that matched their 11-5 SCIAC record a season ago and made the SCIAC Tournament championship game. The Tigers also travel to Orange to take on the Panthers on February 6.
Another big SCIAC matchup will come on December 12 in Rush Gym when the visiting #16 ranked Claremont-M-S Stags come to town. CMS finished in a tie for the regular-season SCIAC title a season ago with a 13-3 conference record thanks to an impressive defense that surrendered just 67.9 points per game. The Stags were also recently picked to finish atop the conference in the SCIAC men's basketball preseason poll.
After a short break in SCIAC play the Tigers resume conference matchups on January 2 on the road in Thousand Oaks against Cal Lutheran in a rematch from last year's No. 4 vs No. 5 seed SCIAC Tournament first round game in which the Tigers took down the Kingsmen 88-84. CLU then returns to Rush Gym on January 18.
Occidental will get their first chance against the University of Redlands Bulldogs on the road in Redlands on January 20 before a home matchup with the Bulldogs on February 17. Redlands trailed CMS by six votes in the preseason poll and have been selected to finish second in the SCIAC coming off a 24-5 season with a 13-3 record in SCIAC play. The Bulldogs' offense was a serious threat last season, leading the conference with 95.1 points per game.
The Whittier Poets have been selected to finish third in the SCIAC in the preseason poll and are coming off a 8-8 record in SCIAC play a season ago. The Poets were third in the conference in scoring last year and will be a tough team to deal with this season. The Tigers play the Poets in Whittier on January 13 and at Rush Gym on February 3.
Overall, Coach Newhall is excited to see how his team has prepared for the season: "We have a new look to our team and we are excited about how hard the team has worked to get ready to compete in a tough conference."
UP NEXT
The Tigers' start to the season is just around the corner with the home opener coming up on November 7 in the 110 Rivalry Game against the Caltech Beavers in Rush Gym. After that, the Tigers will look to continue to forge their new identity with matchups against Nebraska Wesleyan and Bethesda University.
