Newhall Records 300th Win in Victory Over La Verne
Sean Anderson led the pack tonight with 22 points, four coming on a pair of dunks. (Photo: Tracy Maple)
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Feb. 2, 2008) – It has been 19 years in the making, but tonight, as the Tigers defeated the Leopards at Rush Gymnasium to retain sole possession of first place in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action, Head Coach Brian Newhall recorded his 300th career win at the helm of the Occidental men’s basketball program.
Occidental never trailed, opening with a 10-2 run. During the first half the Tigers led by as much as 14.
The Tigers took a 29-17 lead into the locker room behind 6-for-7 shooting from Chris Pitcher for 12 points and 11 points from Sean Anderson.
The duo went on to combine for 36 total points and 20 total boards. Anderson, a sophomore transfer, wowed the crowd with a pair of dunks as he finished with 22 points--the most in his Oxy career--while pulling down 10 rebounds as he recorded his second straight double-double. Pitcher added 14 points (7-for-9 from the field) and grabbed 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.
La Verne came back from the break on a roll, using a 10-2 run of their own to cut the lead to two at 31-29 with 15:58 in regulation. The teams battled throughout the second half, but the Tigers always had the edge, despite being outscored 35-33 in the second half. Anderson and Connor Whitman combined to knock down all 10 of their free throws in the final three minutes of play to seal the win for Oxy.
Despite a poor shooting night from the perimeter (5-for-35), Oxy did an excellent job of taking care of the basketball with just six turnovers to go along with 19 assists.
Pitcher led all players with five assists, and Gemayal McBride handed out four. Gyan Alexander, Huston Conti and Chris Hunt each recorded three assists. Conti had three of the Tigers’ eight steals and Alexander and Whitman each had two.
Oxy’s defense held the Leopards to a 29.1 field goal percentage (16-for-55), shooting 34.4% from the field themselves. Anderson added three blocks on the night and Pitcher finished with a pair of his own.
Whitman turned in another solid performance from the charity stripe, going 6-for-6, while Oxy was 15-for-21 from the line overall.
Hunt grabbed a game high 12 rebounds as the Tigers edged out the Leopards by a 42-37 rebounding margin. Oxy and La Verne had 12 offensive boards apiece, converting those to six and 12 points, respectively.
Occidental improves to 16-2, 6-1 in SCIAC to remain atop the standings, while the Leopards fall to 8-10, 2-5.
Wednesday night, Feb. 8, the Tigers will look for revenge against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, who handed Oxy a 55-42 loss to open league play. The Stags (11-7) are currently tied with Cal Lutheran (15-3) for second in the SCIAC with a 5-2 mark. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Rush Gymnasium.
