Strong Defense Carries Men’s Basketball Winning Streak

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Author: Mirin Fader

The Occidental men’s basketball team (6-5 SCIAC; 12-10 overall) extended their SCIAC winning streak to four games last week as they defeated La Verne 61-49 on Wednesday, Feb. 9 and Pomona-Pitzer 56-49 on Saturday, Feb. 12.

In Wednesday night’s game against La Verne, Occidental looked for revenge after their recent 52-49 loss to the Leopards on Jan. 12.

This time the Tigers held the Leopards to just 19 points at halftime, holding a seven point lead (26-19).

A quick 7-0 run by the Leopards to start the second half tied the score at 26 with 17:34 left in the period.

The score remained close throughout the second half — within a few points — when Occidental finally took a 40-36 lead on a three-pointer by guard Jack Hanley (junior) with 7:40 remaining. The Leopards responded with a three-pointer of their own by guard Trevor Woodland (junior), bringing the Leopards within three points (42-39) with 6:48 left in the game.

Several jumpshots by forward Deshun McCoy (sophomore) allowed the Tigers to pull ahead 47-40 with 4:44 left in the game. The Leopards failed to come back from this run, as Occidental pushed its lead to 10 points with just under four minutes to go in regulation.

The Tigers took care of the ball well, committing just nine turnovers compared to the Leopards’ 13. Occidental shot 44 percent from the field, while the Leopards shot just 35 percent from the field. Occidental also held La Verne to a poor 17 percent shooting from the three-point range.

Occidental shot an astounding 86 percent from the free-throw line (12-14). However, La Verne edged Occidental 33-31 in the rebounding total.

McCoy led the Tigers with 16 points and six rebounds. Forwards Drew Dockweiler (first-year) and Jake Copithorne (junior) both contributed 10 points while guard Sam Stapleton (sophomore) grabbed a team-high seven rebounds to go along with his six points. Forward Kris Montoya (first-year) added seven points.

Head coach Brian Newhall was impressed with his team’s shared offensive production.

“It was a complete team effort. A variety of people contributed in different spots. We have had different people step up on different nights on the offensive side of things, making us a much tougher team to prepare for,” Newhall said.

The Leopards were led by junior forwards Tyler Hoyt (20 points on 8-15 shooting, with eight rebounds), and Austin Napolitano (13 points and a team-high nine rebounds). Guard Trevor Woodland (junior) added nine points.

“It all comes down to focus and execution and playing with a sense of urgency for us. When we really dial in and make every possession count, offensively and defensively we’re extremely tough to beat,” Stapleton said.

In Saturday night’s 56-49 victory against Pomona-Pitzer, the Tigers overcame an eight point deficit at half-time (29-21) to go on a 17-0 run with seven minutes left in regulation, prompted by a three-pointer by Montoya. The Tigers took the lead for the first time at the 3:46 mark.

Occidental’s momentum was heightened at the 2:47 mark with an alley-oop from Copithorne to McCoy for an and-1 play.

Though the Sagehens only committed six turnovers compared to Occidental’s 13, the Tigers dominated on the offensive end.

Occidental shot 53 percent from the field, while Pomona-Pitzer shot just 37 percent from the field.

Hanley led all scorers with 20 points, on a near perfect 6-7 shooting. McCoy, meanwhile, contributed 19 points, while Dockweiler added seven. McCoy and forward Ty Cobb (first-year) also shared the game-high of six rebounds.

Coach Newhall attributes his team’s improved second half of SCIAC play to their defense.

“We have been playing outstanding defense for 30 plus minutes each game. We are working hard on increasing our focus and making the 30 to 40 minutes. When we do that we will be a hard team to beat,” Newhall said.

McCoy credits the Tigers’ turn-around to a focus on eliminating careless mistakes.

“We started playing a lot better in the second half of league play because we realized we were beating ourselves, and if we wanted to go far, we knew we had to play better,” McCoy said.

These two wins place Occidental fourth (tied with Whittier) in the SCIAC standings, trailing just one game behind third place La Verne. Occidental plays Whittier at home Wednesday, Feb. 16.

If the last games are any indication, the Tigers have a good chance of winning their next game. The team is an even more formidable force this season because of certain key players. While some players are simply recovering from injuries, others are stepping up and making the team stronger than ever.

“Hanley and Montoya are bouncing back from injuries, Dockweiler is emerging as a low post presence, McCoy is starting to play like an all-league player, Copithorne is making perimeter shots and Stapleton continues to improve his decision-making,” Newhall said.

 With three games remaining in the regular season (Wednesday, Feb. 16 vs. Whittier, Saturday, Feb. 19 vs. Cal Lutheran, and Tuesday, Feb. 22 at Caltech), the Tigers are focused on reaching the playoffs.

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