LOS ANGELES — When the Occidental men's basketball team needed a shot in a physical back-and-forth game against La Verne, senior Sam Stapleton (Los Angeles) asked for the ball.  

Down by three with 1:56 left, Stapleton nailed a three to tie the game at 64. Six minutes before, he hit another critical three to cut the Leopards' lead to one point.

But then the ball rolled the other way. After Jake Vieth drove the lane and the ball went out of bounds off of Oxy, La Verne had another chance with 1.8 seconds left. Alex Wolpe flashed across the top of the key before cutting into the lane for the buzzer-beater layup to steal the game away from the Tigers 66-64 at Rush Gymnasium.

"I could not be more proud of our effort. I love these guys," Occidental head coach Brian Newhall said. "There is no quit in them. We have continued to compete hard this season no matter what.

"Sam had one of his best games of his career. The guy is a warrior."

For most of the night, emotions were high and questionable calls swung both ways. The Tigers (2-13 SCIAC, 7-17 overall) were hungry to return to the win column.

It seemed possible when the team led by 10 points at the beginning of the second half, largely due to the way Kris Montoya (Portland, Ore.) aggressively attacked the rim and created plays inside or kick out opportunities for others. The swingman scored a game-high 20 points.

But the Leopards (7-7 SCIAC, 9-14 overall) were too tough inside, bodying their way into the paint with a clear size advantage. Oxy struggled to contain one-on-one dribble penetration into the key, especially in transition, as Vieth pushed the ball quickly up the court and energized his team with 19 points.

At halftime, Oxy had a seven-point advantage (38-31) finding a rhythm from long distance, shooting a soaring 55.6 percent. The team started the game by making its first three threes.

Stapleton often dished it to his teammates on the outside, tallying eight assists on the night. David Yetenikyan (Glendale) pulled down seven boards, and Ryan Chong (San Diego) and Eric Leider (Las Vegas) both chipped in with eight points. Freshman Erik Eichinger (Radnor, PA) saw big minutes down the stretch, pressuring La Verne's perimeter.

But Wolpe continued to post up inside, finishing with 18 points and 11 boards for La Verne, and was helped out by 10 points from Ronn See.

Oxy will close out the 2012-13 campaign at home this Saturday against Pomona-Pitzer at 7 p.m.

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