Box Score LOS ANGELES, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Men's Basketball team held on late for the 88-83 win against Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) opponent Occidental on Wednesday night at Rush Gym.
Season Impact: with the win, the Sagehens improve to 16-4 overall and 12-2 in SCIAC play.
The Sagehens were led by Brendan Mora who went for a new career-high with 28 points and nine rebounds in the win. Matthew Eberle went for 17 points while Pete Boyle and Peyton Mullarkey chipped in with 12 each.
The Tigers held the advantage in terms of shooting percentage as they hit on 51.6% from the field to the Sagehens 46.0% and the Tigers hit on 44% of their threes while the Sagehens hit at 36% from the beyond the arc. The Sagehens dominated the rebound game as they outrebounded Occidental 43-19 and had 24 points in the paint to Oxy's 20.
The Sagehens had one of their best scoring halves of the season as they put up 48 points in the first 20 minutes against Occidental. The Sagehens got out to a 12-4 start after a three by Mora and pushed the lead to over 10 points at the eight-minute mark after a pair of made free throws by Mora to make it 29-18.
The Tigers began to chip away at the lead and got it down to five points at 37-32 with just over three minutes before halftime, but the Sagehens turned on the offense late and went into the locker room with a 48-34 lead.
Pomona-Pitzer owned the first 10 minutes of the second half and got their lead up to the largest of the night at 24 points with a 70-46 lead after a layup by Mullarkey with 10:50 to play, but after the Sagehens looked to have this one in the bag, the Tigers started to mount a comeback and showed life with 5:20 left to play after getting the lead down to 75-65.
Occidental closed the gap and got within striking distance at 84-8, but solid free throw shooting from the line late by Mora and Eberle kept the Tigers away from forcing overtime as the Sagehens earned their 16th win of year.
Up Next: The Sagehens will next end the regular season at home on Senior Day against SCIAC opponent CMS on Saturday, February 19th at 5:00 p.m.
