Claremont, Calif. – Aaron Chamberlain had 21 points and 10 rebounds as the Cal State University San Marcos Men's Basketball team prevailed late in a defensive battle against Pomona-Pitzer 51-46 on Tuesday evening at the Rains Center.

The Cougars improve to 10-7 overall with the win, while Pomona-Pitzer, which was led by 12 points from sophomore forward John Weiss (Cleveland, Ohio) and 10 off the bench from senior forward Danny Brown (Eugene, Ore.), falls to 5-5 with the loss.

The Sagehens trailed 28-27 at the half, and CSU San Marcos was able to extend its lead to 37-30 on a three-pointer from Tim Steed with 14:40 remaining. Pomona-Pitzer, though, used a four-point play to get right back in it, as freshman guard Kyle McAndrews (Seattle, Wash.) made a basket and was fouled, and Weiss had a put-back off the offensive rebound on the missed foul shot to make it 37-34.

A Brown three-pointer brought the Sagehens with 39-37 with 9:09 left, and a lay-up by freshman forward Jack Klukas (Eden Prairie, Minn.) gave Pomona-Pitzer its first (and only) lead of the second half at 43-42 with 6:39 left.

After a foul shot from sophomore forward Jake Klewer (Tucson, Ariz.) tied the game at 44-44 with 4:17 remaining, the Cougars scored the next four points, three of which came from Jamel McGuire on a foul shot and a running teardrop in the paint with 2:21 left to make the score 48-44.

Klukas, though, found Weiss cutting to the basket for a lay-up with 1:31 left to make the score 48-46. The Sagehens earned a stop to get the chance to tie or take the lead, but Alpha Ndiaye came up with a key block with 33 seconds to go on the potential tying jumper from senior guard Evan Zahniser (Mercer Island, Wash.).

After the Cougars made one of two at the line, Pomona-Pitzer tried to attack the basket for a two-pointer to cut the lead to one, but the loose ball bounced around in the paint and ended up in the hands of Daniel Redmon, who made two foul shots to seal it.

Pomona-Pitzer overcame a slow start as CSU San Marcos led 11-2 early. However, Brown had seven of his 10 points in the first half to spark the Sagehens off the bench. Pomona-Pitzer came all the way back to take a 25-19 lead late in the half, but the Cougars answered with a 9-0 run, seven of which were scored by Chamberlain, before Brown finished off the half with a dunk on a backdoor cut to give the Sagehens some momentum heading into the locker room down 28-27.

Weiss had three assists, three blocks and four steals for Pomona-Pitzer to go along with his 12 points. Steed had 11 points and Daniel Redmon added 10 for the Cougars.

The Sagehens will be back in action on Saturday when they open SCIAC play with a road game at Cal Lutheran.