LOS ANGELES — Andrew Johnson scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, despite playing the final 12 minutes with four fouls, as the Occidental men's basketball team took down Pomona-Pitzer in its SCIAC opener, 74-65 at Rush Gymnasium on Saturday.

Oxy improves to 5-3 overall and 1-0 in SCIAC play. Pomona-Pitzer falls to 2-8 and 0-1.

Johnson, the Tigers' leading scorer and rebounder, was 8 for 13 from the field, on jump hooks, offensive put backs and even isolation drives from the top of the key.

The sophomore post player had plenty of help scoring and on the glass too. Spencer Levy scored 13,Juwan Rice had 12, Kory Hamane added 10, and Andrew Garrison scored eight points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

As a team, the Tigers outrebounded the Sagehens 46-36 and limited Pomona-Pitzer to just 3 of 18 from beyond the 3-point line.

"I thought our effort and energy was what carried us tonight," Oxy head coach Brian Newhall said. "We didn't play a clean game, but we competed on every possession and that's how we were able to beat a talented, well-coached team at home."

Kyle McAndrews scored a game-high 22 points for Pomona-Pitzer and Gibson Farone-Collins added 19 points and 14 rebounds.

The Tigers jumped out to a 16-7 early in the first half on a pair of 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions by JJ Friedman. The Saghens were able to stay close for most of the first 20 minutes and Oxy went into the locker room at halftime with a 43-41 lead.

In the second half, the Tigers went on a 10-0 run, starting with 7:19 left and ending on a Hamane 3-pointer with 4:09 left, giving Oxy its largest lead of the game, 68-57. Johnson was responsible for the first five points of the run on offensive putbacks and a free throw that finished off a momentum-changing and-1.

Next Game: Oxy returns to action against Chapman, the defending SCIAC Tournament champion, at Rush Gym on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Oxy beat the Panthers in overtime last season 99-94 in Orange in the team's first ever SCIAC meeting.