Claremont, Calif. - Junior forward Jake Klewer (Tucson, Ariz.) scored the winning lay-up on a fast break at the buzzer after a Sagehen steal as the Pomona-Pitzer Men's Basketball team opened the season with a thrilling 81-79 win over Westmont on Friday evening at Voelkel Gymnasium.
The Sagehens open the season at 1-0 while handing Westmont its first loss of the young campaign, as the Warriors fall to 3-1.
Pomona-Pitzer was down 79-76 with 20 seconds left, when sophomore guard Kyle McAndrews (Seattle, Wash.) tied it up with a deep three-pointer from the right wing off a kickout pass from sophomore guard Michael Cohen (Tarzana, Calif.).
Westmont called a timeout with 13 seconds left, and worked the ball to the right of the paint to Preston Branson, who tried to drive to the basket. Cohen, though, poked the ball free in the paint with about four seconds left, and McAndrews picked up the loose ball in traffic. He dribbled the length of the court, and as he was cut off just outside the paint by a Westmont defender, he shuffled a pass to Klewer, who took one dribble and laid it in as the buzzer sounded for an 81-79 win.
Westmont took a 77-74 lead with 1:23 to play when Niko Brooks stole the ball in the backcourt and fed Branson for an old-fashioned three-point play. The Sagehens cut the lead down to 77-76 when junior forward John Weiss (Cleveland, Ohio) scored in the paint off a feed from McAndrews with 49 seconds left, but Branson converted both foul shots with 35 seconds left after a foul to push the lead back to three points, before McAndrews tied it from deep.
The second half was tight the whole way, as the lead was only higher than five points in either direction briefly in the first half, when Westmont took a 41-34 lead on two foul shots from Cooper Damron with 3:25 left in the opening stanza. The Sagehens scored the next six points to get back within one point, and took a 47-45 lead into the break when Adrian Brandon (Seattle, Wash.) beat the halftime buzzer with a three-pointer, the first of two buzzer beaters on the day for Pomona-Pitzer.
The Sagehens took a quick 50-45 lead to start the second half on a three-point play from Cohen, and led again by five at 72-67 with 4:50 to play on a McAndrews lay-up. However, the Warriors went on a 10-2 run to take a 77-74 lead late before Pomona-Pitzer was able to come back in the closing seconds.
Cohen finished with 20 points and McAndrews added 16 for the Sagehens, while senior guard Xavyr Moss (Federal Way, Wash.) added 15 in his first game since the 2010-11 season, when he was an All-SCIAC selection. Klewer finished with eight points (on 3-3 shooting) and eight rebounds, while Weiss pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds. Branson led five players in double figures for Westmont with 16.
Pomona-Pitzer is back in action tomorrow for a 7:30 p.m. home game with La Sierra.