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WHITTIER — Zach Baines led the way on offense, Austin DeWitz dominated the boards and Ryan Kaneshiro was one assist shy of a triple double, leading Oxy to an 86-68 win at Whittier on Saturday.
DeWitz challenged shots by the basket and then cleared the boards, securing 21 rebounds, including 16 at the defensive end of the court. He also had 15 points, four assists and just one turnover on 6 for 14 shooting.
Kaneshiro played good on-ball defense and provided outstanding leadership at both ends of the court, finishing with 13 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. With the game's result not completely in had, he went 7 for 8 from the free throw line as the Poets had to play the foul game.
Baines was unguardable at times during the game, going 9 for 15 from the field for a game-high 24 points. He also had two blocks, two steals and six rebounds.
Jonny Crosthwaite had 11 points and was a calming presence at time for Oxy, Caleb Yellin-Flaherty added 12 points and eight rebounds, and Jacob Adler had 11 points off the bench, including a trio of threes. One of them came at a turning point late in the shot clock, late in the second half.
Whittier's best punch of the game came in the first half when they hit a couple guarded shots to go up 22-15. The Tigers countered and were up 42-36 at halftime.
Oxy extended its lead by more than double digits early in the second half and was able to hold off Poets for the win.
The Tigers stepped up their defense, holding Whittier to 31 percent shooting in the second half. Oxy allowed Whittier to shoot 50 percent from the field in the first half.
Kenyatta Louder did the bulk of the damage for Whittier, scoring 17 of his team-high 20 points in the first half. Connor Longmire was also hot in the first half, but cooled off, scoring 13 of his 19 points in the first 20 minutes.
Season Impact: Oxy improves to 20-3 overall and 11-3 in SCIAC. The Tigers can be no lower than the No. 3 seed and put themselves in a good position to get the No. 2 seed and a home game with a win in their next game.
Whittier falls to 9-14 overall and 6-8 in SCIAC.
Next Game: Oxy is back in action at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
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