LOS ANGELES — Zach Baines led the block party as the Occidental men's basketball team ran away from Caltech 80-60 in its season opener at Rush Gym on Wednesday night.

Baines, who led the game with 19 points and 10 rebounds, had five blocks, including a handful in the second half that ignited Oxy's transition offense. 

Austin DeWitz also had a pair of blocks to go along with 18 points, three steals and five rebounds. He also shot 7 for 12 from the field and 4 for 5 from the free throw line.

Jonny Crosthwaite, Jacob Adler and Jeevin Sandhu gave the Tigers valuable minutes off the bench, scoring a combined 20 points between them.  Adler had five points, five rebounds and handled the ball well, Crosthwaite had nine points, three rebounds and two assists, and Sandhu had six points and two steals. 

Caleb Yellin-Flaherty scored six points, had five rebounds and three assists, but missed significant time because of foul trouble. Oxy's Ryan Kaneshiro made key plays in the second half, finishing the game with two points, four rebounds, three assists and no turnovers to go along with excellent defense. 

Oxy went on a 16-0 run in the middle of the second half to put the game out of reach.

"It's always a fun and intense game," Oxy head coach Brian Newhall said. "We have a lot of respect for their program and look forward to seeing them two more times this season."

Caltech came into the game physical and played its hard-nosed brand of basketball, knocking Oxy back in the first half, getting more loose balls and 10 offensive rebounds in the first half. In the second half, Oxy picked up its level and matched the Beavers' effort.

Matthew Riker led Caltech with 14 points and 10 rebounds, Marcus Gee had 18 points and David Kawashima got tons of loose balls to go along with 11 points and four rebounds.

Next Game: The Tigers are back in action on Friday at 7 p.m. against West Coast Baptist at Rush Gym.