Occidental men’s basketball lost their final game of the 2024-25 season to Pomona-Pitzer, 71-85. Micah Breaux (sophomore) and Nasir Luna (first year) led the Tigers in scoring with 17 points apiece. Pomona-Pitzer led 40-39 at the half and opened the second half with a 13-4 run. Occidental closed the gap to just 2 points with 8:11 remaining, but the Sagehens responded with a 7-0 run. Occidental finishes with a 7-16 overall record and a 4-12 conference record.
Guard Henry Wilson (junior) said it was a tough loss, but it was fun to play one last game with Bernard Cassidy (senior) and Jacob Hamermesh (senior). Wilson said the season was full of unusual adversity, including the postponing of games and practices because of the LA fires, injuries and a staph infection in the first weeks of the season.
“At one point we had only six healthy players, so we could only play three-on-three in practice,” Wilson said.
Due to the LA fires, Wilson said the team played a condensed schedule the rest of the year, with three games per week. According to Wilson, no college basketball team plays that frequently.
“We were always more tired than our opponents, but besides all that, we had a very fun season,” Wilson said.
Ethan Hanning (junior) said the team came to fight every game.
“We were losing a lot of close games,” Hanning said.
According to Hanning, the team works hard in practice and supports one another.
“We’re really close as a team, I think that’s pretty rare,” Hanning said. “We all love each other.”
A transfer student, Mateo Tangaan (junior) said he spent the season getting used to the team culture.
“I like it a lot — unselfish basketball, all the guys are cool,” Tangaan said.
Tangaan said most of the guys in the rotation are first-years and sophomores.
“We have a lot of good freshmen,” Tangaan said.
Wilson said the team had several close losses to nationally ranked teams, including a 2-point loss to Redlands, ranked 11th in DIII with a 22-3 record as of Feb. 24. Occidental played with only nine healthy players in their 67-69 loss at Redlands Feb. 15. With only two healthy upperclassmen, Wilson said the Tigers were the youngest team in the SCIAC.
“We’re so young, I just think the takeaway is, ‘The future is bright,’” Wilson said.
According to Wilson, the best player on the team, Nicky Clotfelder (junior), who broke his hand during the 2024-25 season, is returning next season.
“Next year we’re going to be a force,” Wilson said.
Contact James Miller at jmiller4@oxy.edu
