THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Of the 29 points Cal Lutheran Kingsmen guard Greg Grimm scored against the Occidental College Tigers Saturday evening, none were more important than the three-point shot he nailed with 1:34 left in overtime as his basket would give Cal Lutheran the lead for good in their 55-52 victory over Occidental College.

Box Score: CLU 55, OXY 52 - F (OT)

CLU sophomore guard Jayvaughn Nettles finished in double-digits with his 10-point effort, while junior forward Aaron Von Klaveren ended with a double-double thanks to his 10 point, 10 rebound performance.

Those in attendance at Gilbert Arena saw a fierce battle between both teams from the moment the game started as each battled to earn every one of their 22 points throughout the first half. The lead changed hands on six occasions during the first 20 minutes of action, offering everyone in attendance just a glimpse of the drama that would soon unfold as the game progressed

Once the second half began, Cal Lutheran quickly jumped out to an early six-point lead thanks to Grimm who converted on a free throw, a layup, and a three-point shot. That advantage would eventually grow to seven points before Occidental went on a 9-2 run to tie the game at 35-35 with 9:20 remaining in the game.

From that point on, each team would trade baskets with one another as the Kingsman lead would reappear as quickly as it disappeared as the CLU defense only allowed Occidental to take the lead on one occasion during the final ten minutes of the game.

With Cal Lutheran leading by three, with the game mere seconds away from ending, Occidental's Jack Hanley would force another five minutes of action due to his three-point shot that tied the game at 47-47. Cal Lutheran did everything they could to make things as tough as possible for Hanley as they not only contested Hanley's shot, but made him take an off-balanced one at that to create the space needed to even take a look at the basket.

With momentum clearly on their side, Occidental not only scored the last three points in regulation, but also the first three points in overtime to silence the partisan crowd.

Grimm would bring the Cal Lutheran faithful to their feet thanks to his three-point shot that tied the game at 50-50, quickly erasing the Occidental lead that they had worked so hard to build in the preceding minutes.

Even though it was the senior guard that tied the game, it was the efforts of teammates Nettles, Jeremy Sulker-Hall, and Van Klaveran that even created Grimm's opportunity in the first place as they were able to successfully prevent Occidental from grabbing a rebound on either end of the floor during the final four minutes of the game.

After watching CLU battle back to tie the game at 50-50, Hanley calmly sank two free-throws to give his team the lead at 52-50, only to watch Grimm sink yet another three-point shot to give CLU the lead once again.

That one-point lead would soon grow into the deciding margin of victory as the CLU defense would force Hanley to miss his final three shots as Grimm successfully capitalized on two free-throw opportunities to give his team what would end up being the final margin of victory at 55-52.

Cal Lutheran (9-9, 3-4 SCIAC) will face Pomona-Pitzer (6-12, 2-5) this Wednesday at Gilbert Arena, tip-off will take place at 7:30 p.m.