Occidental Duo Spurs Victory, 86-73

Forward Brian Slattery scored 15 of his game-high 24 points in the second half to help Occidental College break open a tight game and claim an 86-73 nonconference basketball win over host Cal Lutheran on Wednesday night.

Junior forward Sandy Brown, a 6-foot-6 transfer from Cal State Northridge, added 18 points for the Tigers (10-7).

“Brown and Slattery played really well,” Occidental Coach Brian Newhall said. “Brown is really starting to come into his own after breaking his finger earlier in the season.”

Jeff deLaveaga’s three-point basket propelled Cal Lutheran (7-8) to a quick 7-0 lead in the opening moments of the game, but Occidental outscored CLU, 10-2, over a two-minute span and took a lead it would never relinquish.

The Kingsmen trailed, 43-41, in the early moments of the second half after a steal and a layin by guard Hank Hou. But 32% shooting from the field and 65% from the line finished off CLU.

DeLaveaga, a junior guard who is the leading scorer in the nation in NCAA Division II with a 29.5 average, paced the Kingsmen with 23 points.

Cal Lutheran, which is playing as an independent this season, has faced four of next season’s Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (Division III) opponents in the past two weeks and has lost three of those games by an average of 15 points.

“They were a little down tonight, but I consider it an upset for us to come in here and get the win tonight,” Newhall said.