Box Score CLAREMONT, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Men's Basketball team fell in a close contest to Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) opponent Chapman 61-54 on Wednesday night at Voelkel Gymnasium.
Season Impact: with the loss, the Sagehens fall to 1-6 overall and go to 0-1 in conference play after dropping their conference opener tonight.
The Sagehens were led by Adam Rees with a team-high 11 points and seven rebounds while Corbin Koch tallied 10 points of his own. Daniel Rosenbaum, Micah Elan, Jack Boyle and James Kelbert each chipped in with six points in the loss.
Points came at a premium in this opening SCIAC matchup as neither team mustered up many points in this game. The Sagehens shot just 34.5% from the floor while the Panthers got 38.6% of their shots to fall from the field.
The Sagehens came out and took an early 5-0 lead out of the gate as the Panthers struggled to get their opening basket, but Chapman kept their deficit at single digits throughout the first half.
The Panthers eventually took their first lead of the game after a three by Daniel McCown gave them a 17-16 lead with 7:49 remaining but the first half ended going back-and-forth until the Panthers hit a buzzer beater to take a 26-24 lead at the half.
Pomona-Pitzer notched the first two buckets of the second half and reclaimed the lead at 28-26 and eventually tied their largest lead of the game at 39-34 with 13:15 to go.
The Sagehens kept their distance from the Panthers but could not put Chapman away late in the game. The Panthers slowly chipped away at the lead and ended up even at 49-49 with 4:40 left to play.
With the game tied inside of two minutes, the Panthers used free-throws to build their late lead as they ended the second half going 11-12 from the stripe.
The Panthers took a three-point lead with 1:07 to play and left the Sagehens needing a basket to get back into the game. The Sagehens went cold late and missed a couple of shots to try and tie the game and were forced to foul sending Chapman to the line.
The Panthers stayed solid from the line as were able to spoil the home conference opener for the Sagehens.
Up Next: The Sagehens will next host SCIAC rival CMS on Saturday, December 9th at 5:00 p.m.
