LOS ANGELES — Austin DeWitz and Zach Baines had big games as the Occidental men's basketball team had NCAA Division III No. 1 Whitman on the ropes at Rush Gymnasium late in the second half on Sunday.

But despite playing a very good game and giving one of last year's final four teams a run for its money, the Tigers could not hold on for the upset victory, falling 73-69.

DeWitz scored 16 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, had six assists, two steals and just one turnover despite being the primary middle cutter against Whitman's frantic full court pressure. DeWitz was one the keys to Oxy having success against the press for most of the entire game, catching, pivoting and advancing the ball up the court. When he had to, he was also able to dribble up without getting out of control helping the Tigers get easy baskets. 

Baines had a big night shooting the basketball, going 10 for 16 for a game-high 25 points. He also had eight rebounds, three assists and a block. Eight games into the season, he's averaging 20.5 ppg on 55 percent shooting. 

Oxy led 37-35 at halftime and had leads as high as eight points on two different occasions in the second half, the second one a 59-51 lead with 8:21 to go.

Whitman took control of the game with DeWitz briefly sidelined with an injury. With a 59-55 lead with 7:29 to go, the Tigers had five of their 28 turnovers in a span of 2 minutes, leading to the back end of a 10-0 run that put Whitman up 64-59.

Oxy was never able to cut the lead back to one possession.

Oxy played outstanding defense against Whitman, holding it to its lowest point total of the season, 38 percent shooting from the field and 22 percent from beyond the 3-point line. Whitman, which came into the game averaging 108 points per game, hadn't scored under 100 this season.

Caleb Yellin-Flaherty had a solid game for Oxy, scoring 10 points, with nine rebounds, three blocks, three assists and two steals. Jacob Adler hit three 3-pointers off of the bench for nine points and Jeevin Sandhu had four points.

Oxy's Ryan Kaneshiro played good defense on All-American guard Tim Howell, who had a team-high 18 points on 9 for 22 shooting. Kaneshiro, who finished with four points, four rebounds, two drawn charges and no turnovers, was limited to just 23 minutes after heavy foul trouble in the first half.

Oxy first year point guard Solmon Burt-Murray did well in his first extended action of the season, finishing with five assists and two rebounds in 14 minutes played. 

Jack Stewart added 12 points for Whitman and Trevor Osborne had 10.

Season Impact: Oxy falls to 6-2 on the season.

Whitman goes to 7-0.

Next Game: The Tigers are back in action after taking a brief winter break. Oxy faces UC Santa Cruz at Rush Gym at 7 p.m. on Dec. 28 and UC Merced on Dec. 30 at 4 p.m. The Tigers return to SCIAC play on Jan. 6 at Whittier.