LOS ANGELES — Kris Montoya led four Tigers in double figures with 14 points as the Occidental men's basketball team grinded out a victory over a very improved Caltech squad, 57-54 on Saturday.
The Tigers improve to 8-9 overall and 4-6 in SCIAC play. Caltech falls to 3-16 and 0-11.
Montoya's biggest basket came on a tip in that gave Oxy a 55-50 lead with 2:25 remaining in the game.
"Kris responded tonight," Oxy coach Brian Newhall said. "I'm proud of him and the way our team played. He scored a little, but his two biggest plays I'm picturing were key rebounds that helped us hold them off."
Montoya finished with six boards and blocked a pair of shots.
Joe Compagno, Juwan Rice and Ty Cobb all scored 11 points for Oxy.
Rice, one of the best hustle players and defenders in the entire conference, also grabbed six rebounds, had four assists and four steals.
"His activity earns you more possessions and it's consistently there every game," Newhall said. "He just ends up with the ball."
Lawrence Lee, a 6-foot-6-freshman post player, scored a game-high 22 points and was a perfect 10 for 10 from the free throw line for Caltech.
"Lee is going to be a very good player for four years in the SCIAC," Newhall said. "This Caltech program just keeps getting better and better. They are competitive with every SCIAC school and can beat anyone on any given night. They have no seniors on their roster and Dr. Oliver Eslinger deserves a lot of credit for the job he's doing over there."
Caltech beat UC Santa Cruz, Willamette and Illinois Tech already this year.
Oxy only trailed for two brief moments at the beginning of each half. Caltech went on a 9-0 run to finish the first half, capped by Luke Lango banking in a half court heave that gave the Beavers a boost headed into the locker room.
Lee put Caltech up 29-28 early in the second, but Compagno banged a pair of threes on back-to-back possessions, putting the Tigers back in front.
The Tigers led by as many as nine points in the second half, but each time Caltech climbed back into the game.
Kory Hamane hit a big 3-pointer with 4 minutes left in the game, putting the Tigers up 52-47.
Chad Tanioka had three assists and two steals off of the bench for Oxy.
Both teams were sloppy with the ball, turning it over 19 times each.
588 fans packed the stands for Oxy's biggest home turnout of the season so far.
The Tigers are back in action on Sunday, hosting UC Santa Cruz at 7 p.m.
"This is the best part of the season," Newhall said. "We have a few hours to rest and then we get another chance against UC Santa Cruz."