Fast Start Leads Occidental to Win Over Glassboro St.

The Occidental College men’s basketball team rang in the new year with a blowout Saturday night.

The Tigers, full of revelry and 3-point shots, defeated Glassboro State of New Jersey, 70-51, in a nonconference game at Occidental.

“We haven’t made more than two or three 3-pointers all year, but our guys were throwing them up tonight,” Occidental Coach Brian Newhall said. “And they were going in.”

The Tigers (7-1) had 7 3-pointers against Glassboro (5-5), but it was 6-foot, 9-inch junior center Chris Anderson who did the early damage for Occidental.

Anderson scored the game’s first 6 points and finished with a team-high 19 and a game-high 10 rebounds.

After Anderson gave the Tigers a 6-0 lead, forward John Keister (18 points) added a 3-pointer, then Anderson converted a 3-point play, giving Occidental a 12-0 with 16:04 remaining in the first half.

Occidental led comfortably at halftime, 38-28, but went nearly 10 minutes of the second half without a field goal, allowing Glassboro to pull within 3 points, 44-41.

“They put some pressure on us, and we panicked a little bit,” Newhall said. “People were getting a little jumpy.”

But Keister sank a pair of jumpers, Anderson added a jumper and 2 free throws, and guard Ethan Caldwell tossed in a pair of 3-pointers as the Tigers moved out to a 58-46 lead and steadily pulled away in the final 4 minutes.

Forward Larry Perkins, who did not start because he violated curfew on Friday, led Glassboro with 25 points and 7 rebounds.