LOS ANGELES — The Occidental men's basketball team was right there.
They had overcome an 11-point first-half deficit to Chapman to cut the lead to two points early on in the second half. They played the kind of basketball that doesn't show up in the box score: bodies flew on the ground, guys made the extra pass, and all 11 players who suited up saw minutes on the floor.
But when Justin Young had back-to-back and-1 plays inside with 6:15 remaining, one of which was an energizing dunk, the Tigers' defense couldn't respond in time, falling 65-52 at Rush Gymnasium to a disciplined, Panthers team.
"We got them right where we wanted to," Occidental head coach Brian Newhall said. "But they made some nice plays in crunch time, and the game shifted.
"Chapman's a very good team. We weren't playing great, but we were sticking together—hustling. We were scrappy on defense. We're going through a bad spell, but we're weathering it."
Five minutes into the second half, Oxy (1-8 SCIAC, 6-12 overall) began its surge. David Yetenikyan (Glendale) caught a full-court pass from Roy Vlcek (Manhatten) and converted with a dunk. Then Conrad Liebowitz (Santa Monica) powered his way inside to bring the Tigers within two, their closest.
The push continued. With 10 minutes left, Sam Stapleton (Los Angeles) drove in for a layup to bring the Tigers within three (40-37), and it seemed the team had its best chance to return to the win column.
But the defense that allowed Oxy to get back in the game fell faint, as the team got outrebounded 41-27.
After Justin Young's two and-1 plays put Chapman (6-3 SCIAC, 11-7 overall) up by 16 (55-39), Stapleton tried to lead one final comeback with 4:11 left, bringing his team within single digits (seven) on a layup and three consecutive free throws after getting fouled on a trey. But it was too late.
"They made a couple winning plays during that stretch," Stapleton said. "We had the opportunities to do so as well, and we didn't. But we left it all out on the floor. We never regret our effort. They're a tough team."
Although Oxy shot just 34 percent from the field, Ryan Chong had a big night with 18 points, spacing the floor with his perimeter shooting. The sophomore was 7-for-14 from the field, hitting four threes. Stapleton finished with nine points and six assists, one of which was a behind the back dime to a teammate inside in the first half. Freshman reserve Chad Tanioka (Culver City) added seven points.
Justin Young finished with 14 points, and center Colin Chadwick was tough inside, with 12 points and 10 boards, nine of which came in the first half. Colin Zavrsnick and Taylor Hamasaki added 12 and 11 points respectively.
Next Wednesday the Tigers will face a tough Caltech team that was four points shy of upsetting No. 1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps last week in overtime, despite holding last place in the league. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Caltech.
Mirin Fader is the Oxy men's basketball beat writer. She also writes feature stories on Oxy athletes, coaches and alums. Mirin's work has appeared in Clippers.com, Dime magazine and WNBA.com (LA Sparks). All of her work, including her archived Oxy stories can be found at her website: mirinfader.com