Heart Breaker on the road for Tigers

REDLANDS, Calif. (Jan. 27, 2010) – Leading by 10 points early, the Tigers saw a one-point lead disappear with seconds to play as the University of Redlands used a long jumper with nine seconds remaining in regulation to steal a 71-70 victory from Occidental College in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action at Currier Gym.

With 2:13 remaining in regulation, Oxy led by four points, but were unable to hang on down the stretch. Although the Tigers had the final possession, UR used a timeout and a foul forcing the Tigers to reset just past mid-court with two seconds to play, allowing just enough time for one long shot, which missed, sending the Tigers back to Eagle Rock with a bitter taste in their mouths.

Occidental (12-5, 4-2 SCIAC) trailed 37-32 at the intermission before lighting up the scoreboard in the second half with a 70% shooting performance, including a 5-for-6 explosion from beyond the arc. The Tigers gained a game-high 24 points from sophomore forward Jack Hanley, while freshman forward Deshun McCoy backed him with 19 points and nine rebounds. Joining the double-figure scoring effort were seniors Huston Conti and Sean Anderson who chipped in with 15 and 12 points respectively. Conti added five assists, and five steals, while Anderson came up with eight rebounds.

Redlands looked to 11 different scorers tonight, led by Pat Coffey with 14 points. Bryan Schwartz offered a perfect shooting performance with 10 points on a 4-for-4 showing. Overall, UR shot 48.4% from the field and scored 15 points off Occidental turnovers.

On Saturday, Jan. 30, the Tigers return to Rush Gymnasium where they will host the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens who are currently tied atop the SCIAC standings with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and UR. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. following the women’s showdown at 5:00 p.m.