THOUSAND OAKS — Jacob Adler hit a game-winning 3-pointer with 3.5 seconds left and the Occidental men's basketball team survived a close game at Cal Lutheran 70-67 on Saturday.

With the score tied at 67 and Oxy holding for the last shot, Austin DeWitz drove to his left off of a horns ball screen, the defense collapsed and he hit Adler in the corner for the go-ahead shot.

Oxy was able to hold Cal Lutheran as it had one last desperation heave from half court that missed wide.

Oxy went up by as many as nine points in the first half and 12 points in the second half, but the Tigers couldn't break the game open, hitting a dry spell on offense, while losing a little focus on defense.

Zach Baines had a huge night attacking the basket on posts, drives and tip dunks, going at the smaller Cal Lutheran players. He finished with a game-high 29 points on 13-26 shooting, nine rebounds and two assists. When Cal Lutheran played off of him, he hit 3-6 from three.

Baines also had three blocks, including two crucial ones down the stretch to save Oxy on defense.

Austin DeWitz had 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, Adler finished with seven points, and Caleb Yellin-Flaherty had 10 points and six rebounds before fouling out in the second half.

Jonny Crosthwaite had six points and played solid defense, along with Ryan Kaneshiro who had five rebounds and four assists.

Kyle Dosa gave Oxy a handful of solid minutes in each half.

The Tigers didn't shoot well from the free throw line, going 9-18. They had chances in both halves to add to their lead at the line, but missed as many as they made.

Oxy held the Kingsmen to just 35 percent shooting from the field.

Oxy, which has been winning the rebound battle in most of their games by an average of 6 per game, gave up 11 offensive boards and lost the rebound battle 40-36.

Kyle Ferreria led Cal Lutheran with 20 points.

Season Impact: The Tigers move to 18-3 overall and 9-3 in SCIAC play. Oxy currently sits in third, one game behind CMS in the loss column.

The Tigers can clinch a spot in the four team SCIAC tournament with any win or Whittier loss.

Cal Lutheran falls to 6-14 and 4-7.

Next Game: Oxy is back in action at home against Redlands on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Redlands won the first matchup 101-97 in a high scoring game earlier this season.

Oxy's schedule gets increasingly harder down the stretch against the fourth-place Bulldogs and then at fifth-place Whittier, at second-place CMS and at home against No. 15 Pomona-Pitzer