Box Score CLAREMONT, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Men's Basketball advanced to the SCIAC Semifinal after their 96-66 win over Occidental in the SCIAC Quarterfinals on Wednesday night at the Linde Activities Center.
Season Impact: With the win, the Sagehens advance to 19-4 overall and will host the SCIAC Semifinal against Cal Lutheran.
The Sagehens had all five starters in double digits as Matthew Eberle led the way with 23 points, Joe Cookson had 14, Pete Boyle had 10 while Brendan Mora and Johnny King both had double-doubles with Mora getting 13 and 11 and King getting 10 and 11. Peyton Mullarkey and Ty Bergman both came off the bench with 10 as well in the win.
The Sagehens had a great night shooting the ball as they scored 48 points in each half hitting on 46.6% of their shots and 34.4% from beyond the arc. Pomona-Pitzer also outrebounded Occidental 45-27 had 40 points in the paint and just seven turnovers.
The Tigers held their own with the Sagehens in the early stages of the first half and even held a 14-11 lead with 14:08 left to go in the first half. The Sagehens started to pull away midway through the first half as they took a 23-16 lead with 10:14 to go after a Mora three. Pomona-Pitzer widened the gap to 10 points at 33-23 after a pair of made free throws by Cookson and took their largest lead of the first half in the final seconds as Eberle made a layup with four seconds to go to give the Sagehens a 48-35 lead at halftime.
The second half was all Sagehens after they came out and extended their lead to 20 points at 65-45 with 13:04 left to play. The Tigers struggled to make any type of comeback already facing a large second half deficit but the Sagehens continued their offensive dominance late into the second half as they took their largest lead of the night at 30 points with 43 seconds to go as they cruised to victory in round one of the SCIAC Postseason Tournament.
Up Next: The Sagehens will next host the No. 4 seed Cal Lutheran on Friday, February 25th at 7:00 p.m.
