OCCIDENTAL, Calif. – Occidental's Zach Baines came off the bench to score a game-high 24 points as the Tigers stole a 67-63 overtime win from the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen Wednesday night in Rush Gymnasium.

It was the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) opener for both teams. The Kingsmen dropped to 2-3 and 0-1 in conference play. The Tigers stayed undefeated and are 6-0 overall and 1-0 in the SCIAC.

Kyle Ferreira led the Kingsmen with 20 points. He added six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Austin Cole had an off shooting night and made 4-of-17 shots for 16 points. He also tallied eight rebounds, five assists and two steals. Blake Miles was the third Kingsmen with double-digit points with 10. Connor Cole pulled down 12 rebounds.    

The scoring started slow as the Kingsmen had a slight edge, 6-2, with 15 minutes left in the first half. The Violet and Gold continued to increase the lead and were up 14-6 after a three-pointer by Ferreira. A. Cole pushed the lead to nine, 20-11, as he added a layup. The Tigers tried to keep it close in the first half, and did for most of it. A. Cole gave the Kingsmen a 11-point lead as he hit a three-pointer to put the Violet and Gold up 34-23 at the half.

In the second half, the Kingsmen increased the lead and had their largest of the game at 44-29. Then the Tigers started to chip away at the deficit. With 11:48 in the game, Oxy made a layup to cut the deficit to double-digits. With four minutes left it was down to a six-point game. With two minutes left, the Tigers were only down three. With the score tied at 59, and 14 seconds left on the clock, the Kingsmen were unable to convert on two shots and the game went to overtime.

In overtime the score went back and forth. The Kingsmen had the lead a couple times, but it was the Tigers that had the last say. Oxy outscored Cal Lutheran 8-4 in overtime and won the game 67-63.

The Kingsmen return home Saturday and host Vanguard at 4 p.m. in Gilbert Arena.

Box Score: OXY 67, CLU 63 OT
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director