Kris Montoya dominated overtime and the Occidental College men’s basketball team had five players in double figures as it outlasted visiting UC Santa Cruz in a Super Bowl Sunday thriller, 86-82.
Montoya scored 11 of Oxy’s 12 points in overtime. He finished with 20 total on 7-of-14 shooting, to go along with seven rebounds, five assists, two blocks and a steal.
Joe Compagno chipped in 17 points for the Tigers.
Kory Hamane and Chad Tanioka each scored 11 points and made three 3-pointers.
“Kris played one of the most complete games I’ve seen him play tonight,” Oxy head coach Brian Newhall said. “He rebounded, he had some assists and he also had some other plays where his pass led to the pass. He put us on his back tonight and that’s what your best players do.”
Montoya led off the OT period with back-to-back drives to the basket. Jared Ponce cut Oxy’s lead back to 78-77 with a 3-pointer, but Montoya answered with a three of his own.
The 6-foot-6 senior forward helped hold off the Banana Slugs each time they made a push, giving Oxy two-possession leads with scores on three different occasions.
The only point he didn’t score was a made free throw by Ty Cobb, who ruined the Banana Slugs’ last chance at tying the game with a 3-pointer by intercepting the sideline inbounds play with 3.5 seconds left.
Andrew Johnson had a game-high eight rebounds to go along with his efficient scoring inside on 7 of 8 from the field and 6 of 8 from the line. The freshman forward helped the Tigers jump out to a 39-27 halftime lead by finishing short shots around the basket for a total of 13 first-half points.
Ponce led UC Santa Cruz with 24 points, James Townsend had 18 in 19 minutes due to foul trouble and Spencer Wells added 15.
Oxy was back in action on Wednesday night, traveling to take on Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
–Occidental Sports Information
Hamasaki Scores 18 in Chapman Loss to Redlands
ORANGE — In a crucial late-season battle, the Chapman University men’s basketball team had no answer for the hot-shooting Redlands Bulldogs, dropping a 90-83 home decision on Saturday. The loss marked the third straight for the Panthers on their home court as they fall below the .500 mark in conference play with five games remaining in the regular season.
The Bulldogs came out firing in the first half, jumping out to an early 10-3 lead with three-pointers from Ricky Peetz and Aljosa Bjekovic.
Chapman (11-9, 5-6 SCIAC) made a valiant effort to shrink the Redlands (8-11, 4-6 SCIAC) lead, but the shots kept falling for the Bulldogs. In the first 20 minutes, Redlands made nine of 12 three-pointers to take a 51-42 lead into halftime.
While they struggled to keep pace, the Panthers narrowed the gap thanks to 52 percent shooting from the field, including double-digit first halves from junior guard Taylor Hamasaki, junior guard Colin Zavrsnick and senior forward Nick Dragovich.
The Panthers stepped it up in the second half, going on a 12-2 run at the midway point, capped by a Zavrsnick three-pointer.
Free throws kept Chapman in the game, converting 18-of-20 on the day.
However, a strong Redlands shooting performance proved too much for the Panthers to handle. The Bulldogs shot 73 percent from three-point range, making 11 of 15 attempts. Free throws down the stretch sealed the victory for Redlands.
Zavrsnick and Hamasaki led the way for Chapman, scoring 29 and 18 points respectively. Dragovich added 12 points and seven rebounds for the Panthers while junior Garrett James added six points and five assists.
For Redlands, senior forward Alex Rudd led the team with 21 points, shooting 4-5 from beyond the arc.
Chapman had won 11 of the last 12 matchups versus the Bulldogs, dating back to 2007. The loss drops Chapman in the SCIAC standings, putting their playoff hopes in jeopardy.
The Panthers have until this Saturday to prepare for the Whittier Poets, the first of two straight road contests before returning home for the final two regular season home games.
–Chapman Sports Information