THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Occidental's Zach Baines recorded a double-double with 23 points and 15 rebounds as the Tigers snuck past the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen, 64-62, Wednesday night in Gilbert Arena.
The Tigers remain undefeated in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) with a record of 8-0. Overall they are 15-2. The Kingsmen dropped to 6-10 overall and 4-5 in the SCIAC. The Kingsmen currently sit in the No. 5 spot in the conference. Top-four teams compete in the SCIAC Postseason Tournament.
Cal Lutheran's Austin Cole and Kyle Ferreira led the Kingsmen with 21 points apiece. Cole added a team-high seven rebounds, and Ferreira pulled down six rebounds and dished out four assists.
Michael Wadsworth chipped in nine points, while Palmer Chaplin had a game-high five assists.
The key part of the game came on the boards as the Tigers outrebounded the Kingsmen 42-32.
Occidental jumped all over Cal Lutheran in the early going and led 9-0, forcing the Kingsmen to use an early timeout. The Kingsmen eventually chipped away at the lead and trailed, 23-20, and a Ferreira three-pointer. In the final five minutes, CLU continued to grind and at halftime only trailed by one, 34-33.
The Kingsmen took their first lead of the game, at the 15:36-minute mark, as Cole hit a jump shot to give the Violet and Gold a 40-39 lead. The teams continued to go back and forth in scoring and the lead changed five times over the next several minutes. The game continued to be close, and was tied at 55 with 4:30 left to play. The score was tied two more times in the final 90 seconds. With three seconds left, Oxy made a layup to go up 64-62. The Kingsmen had one more chance, but a jumper at the buzzer was no good.
The Kingsmen continue the season at home and host Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Saturday at 2 p.m. in Gilbert Arena.
Box Score: OXY 64, CLU 62
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
