CLAREMONT, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Men's Basketball opened their season with a 75-59 win over No. 20 East Texas Baptist on Saturday night at Voelkel Gymnasium.
Season Impact: with the win, the Sagehens open the season 1-0 overall.
The Sagehens were led by
Joe Cookson who had 27 points in his season opener.
Ty Bergman earned his first double-double with 12 points and 10 boards, while
Charlie Treene and
Jasper Hedin each had 10 points to make it four Sagehens in double figures in the win.
The Sagehens had a nice night shooting the basketball with 56% from the field and 28.6% from three. The Sagehens outrebounded the Tigers 36-23. Had 24 points off of the bench and outscored the Tigers in the paint 42-34.
A very tight first half as the Sagehens opened their 2023-24 season against the nationally ranked Tigers that saw Pomona-Pitzer holding a small 11-9 lead with five minutes gone in the first half. The Tigers continued to stay close to the Sagehens and eventually took over their first lead of the game at 24-21 with 6:45 left to go in the first half. East Texas Baptist kept their lead for all of five minutes before the Sagehens reclaimed the lead with a Hedin layup at 33-32 and kept that lead as Bergman converted the last shot of the first half to give the Sagehens a 36-34 lead heading into the locker room.
Pomona-Pitzer wasted no time building a lead in the second half as they quickly went up 45-37 after a
Pete Boyle jumper with 17:18 to play. The Sagehens then went on a 7-3 run to extend the lead to 52-40 with just eight minutes gone in the second half. Pomona-Pitzer kept their feet on the gas and went up 65-49 after a
Hayden Moser jumper with 5:41 to play.
With the game well in hand, the Sagehens took their largest lead of the night at 75-59 as Cookson capped off his 27-point night to open the regular season at home.
Up Next: The Sagehens will next host Bethesda University on Thursday, November 16
th at 7:00 p.m.
