LOS ANGELES — Juwan Rice has been doing the dirty work on the boards for Occidental all season, but on Saturday night he also took center stage.
After Oxy turned the ball over with 6 seconds left in the game and the score tied at 70, the junior guard picked a pass in transition near La Verne's three-point line and drove it 70 feet, drawing a hard foul from Ronn See on a layup attempt.
Rice stepped to the line with 0.4 seconds left on the clock and buried two free throws for his 11th and 12th points of the game.
"I went to the line, everyone in the crowd was excited, and our bench was excited. I knew that I had to step up and make that play for our team. I had the confidence to knock it down and I knocked it down," said Rice, who is third in the SCIAC in rebounding (8.2 per game) as a 6-foot guard. The junior also grabbed 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.
Jay Miller foiled La Verne's Hail Mary attempt on the ensuing inbounds play and the Occidental men's basketball team stayed undefeated in SCIAC play with a 72-70 win over La Verne at Rush Gymnasium.
"It was a big win for our program," Oxy head coach Brian Newhall said. "Coach (Richard) Reed has turned the Leopards into a top tier team in the SCIAC.
"It's an exciting time in our conference. Anyone can beat anyone and the league is winning more games outside of the conference."
The Tigers improve to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in SCIAC. La Verne falls to 3-3 and 0-1.
Kris Montoya, Oxy's star and the league's leading scorer at 24 points per game, had another big night, scoring a game-high 27 on 9 for 18 from the field and 8 of 10 from the free throw line.
His two most crucial buckets came on two contested drives in the last 4 minutes that tied the game each time. Oxy erased a ULV six-point lead with 6:30 left in the game.
"Montoya is developing into a complete player," Newhall said. "His defense, rebounding and court vision are improving each week. Even more impressive has been his leadership and work ethic at practice."
Miller added nine points in his second game back from injury, and Andrew Johnson and Spencer Levyeach had eight for the Tigers. Ty Cobb chipped in five points and five rebounds.
See scored 18 and grabbed eight rebounds for the Leopards.
Oxy went up three points twice in the last 2 minutes, but each time the Leopards countered with a three. Oxy's Kory Hamane knocked down a three with 1:57 on the clock, giving Oxy a 67-64 lead, but La Verne's Weston Newell answered with a three on the other end.
Levy then hit a free throw and Rice hit a pair of free throws, putting the Tigers up 70-67. But with 13 seconds left, Kendall McClain nailed a corner three, tying the game at 70.
In the first half, Erik Eichinger, Chad Tanioka, Joe Compagno and Darren Kusumoto all saw spot minutes off of the bench, helping the Tigers take a 37-31 lead into halftime.
Oxy has a 10-day break for final exams before returning to the court against Pacific (Ore.) on Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. in Rush Gymnasium.
"We have 14 more chances to win SCIAC games," Newhall said. "Our guys are hungry. We will keep practicing hard and push each other to improve."
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