Pomona-Pitzer secures the 2019 SCIAC Postseason Tournament Title - Feb 23, 2019
The top-seeded Pomona-Pitzer men's basketball team won the 2019 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Postseason Tournament title for the first time since 2008 with a 68-45 win over third-seeded Occidental on the campus of Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday afternoon. With the win, Pomona-Pitzer improves to 25-2 overall and earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. Occidental moves to 22-5 and will await a possible at-large bid to the NCAA Championship. In the early stages of the first half, Pomona-Pitzer scored the game's opening bucket before Occidental opened up a 16-2 lead, highlighted by three-pointers from Caleb Yellin-Flaherty (6'5''-G) and Zach Baines (6'5''-F), and a pair of buckets by Austin Dewitz (6'7''-G/F). The Sagehens snapped the run at 11:13 in the first half when Micah Elan hit a mid-range jumper that sparked a 6-0 run and pulled Pomona-Pitzer to within eight at 16-8. James Kelbert (6'3''-G/F-98) converted a pair of baskets in the paint to half the deficit. The Sagehens continued to chip away as Elan knocked down a trey, and Corbin Koch made a layup to make it 18-13 with 7:08 to play in the opening frame. Three straight buckets by Pomona-Pitzer gave the hosts a 21-20 edge with 4:16 to play in the first half. A Daniel Rosenbaum (6'4''-G) three-pointer gave the Sagehens a 26-20 lead late in the stanza before a layup by Kelbert with 41 seconds capped the late first half surge and set the score at 31-22 at halftime. Pomona-Pitzer continued to find its rhythm in the second half, scoring 13 of the first 17 points to open up a 44-26 lead with 12 minutes to play. The Tigers' Jacob Adler (6'1''-G) drained a three-pointer to halt the Sagehens' run, and Yellin Flaherty hit a jumper to make it 44-31 with 11:30 left in regulation. Pomona-Pitzer extended its lead to 20 on a three-pointer by Elan to make it 53-33 with 8:32 remaining in the second half. From there, the Sagehens continued to pull away, eventually seeing out the 68-45 win. Elan, who was named the tournament MVP, finished with 21 points, while Rosenbaum and Alex Preston (6'9''-F) added 14 and 12 respectively. Koch chipped in eight rebounds, while Rosenbaum dished out five assists. Yellin-Flaherty led Occidental with 11 points, while Ryan Kaneshiro (6'2''-G/F) added 10 points and seven boards in the loss for the Tigers.
All-Tournament MVP: Micah Elan (6'3''-G) of Pomona-Pitzer Player of the Year: Daniel Rosenbaum (6'4''-G) of Pomona-Pitzer Newcomer of the Year: Noah Barnes (6'2''-G) of California Tech Sportsmanship Award: Austin Cole (6'7''-G/F) of Cal Lutheran Coach of the Year: Charles Katsiaficas of Pomona-Pitzer
Katsiaficas
