Box Score CLAREMONT, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Men's Basketball team downed No. 15 CMS 80-76 in overtime for game one of the Sixth Street Rivalry on Saturday night at Roberts Pavilion.
Season Impact: With the win, the Sagehens improve to 15-5 overall and 7-1 in SCIAC play.
The Sagehens were led by Brendan Mora who tallied a double-double with 23 points and 14 rebounds. Pete Boyle also notched a double-double after scoring 18 points and 12 rebounds while Joe Cookson and Hayden Moser were also in double-digits with 15 and 10, respectively.
Almost identical numbers from both teams shooting after the Sagehens held a slight advantage from the floor at 43.5%, CMS at 41.8%, and both teams at 37.9% from three. The Sagehens owned the rebound battle 45-34 but lost the turnover battle 14-9. Both teams netted 34 points in the paint, but the Sagehens capitalized on their second chances with 17 second-chance points in the win.
The Sagehen defense played a big part in getting the lead early on in the first half after they held the Stags to just two points in the first five minutes to take a 7-2 lead. CMS came back to take their first lead of the game at 12-11 and extended their lead to as much as 21-15 with 8:14 left before halftime. The Sagehens sparked a run late in the first half and closed the deficit after Mora nailed a three as time expired to tie the game at 34-34 heading into halftime.
Pomona-Pitzer came out of halftime and immediately built a strong lead over the Stags with a 15-2 run to take a 49-36 lead with 16:30 to go. The Sagehens maintained their big lead for the majority of the second half, but the Stags started to make a comeback with about five minutes left in the second half. CMS cut the lead down to a one-possession game with two minutes to play and took the lead after a big three by the Stags to take a 67-66 lead with 16 seconds to play. Pomona-Pitzer struggled from the line in the second half but was able to hit one at the line to send the game into overtime tied at 67-67.
The Sagehens started overtime with Mora's big three, but CMS returned fire to take a 71-70 lead. The big turning point of overtime was an and-one by Moser that put Pomona-Pitzer up by two possessions at 75-71. The Stags were then forced to foul and the Sagehens closed out the game at the line to walk away with the win in the first meeting of the Sixth Street Rivalry this season.
Up Next: The Sagehens will next host Whittier on Saturday, January 28th at 7:00 p.m.
