Whittier College snapped a three-game losing streak with a 66-53 win over Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in the Graham Athletics Center on January 26.  The win improves the Poets' record to 9-7 overall and 2-3 in SCIAC play.

Marcus Gibson '09 led the Poets with 15 points.  He hit three shots from beyond the arc and was perfect from the free throw line down the stretch as Whittier closed the game.  Jeff McLean '09 filled the stat sheet with twelve points, seven rebounds, three assists two blocked shots and two steals.  He currently leads the SCIAC with 35 steals.  Travis Crow '09 scored ten points and grabbed four rebounds.  Vernon Covington '08 was a force on the glass with 16 rebounds to go along with six points.  Mike Archuletta '09 and Bill Ritter '08 played significant roles off the bench.  Archuletta scored eight points and pulled down five rebounds.  Ritter scored five points, including an important three-pointer in the second half, and didn't commit a single turnover as the primary ball-handler for 24 minutes of action.

The Sagehens (8-8, 3-2) were led by David Brown, who scored a game-high 18 points.  Their leading scorer, Jabarri Reynolds was held to four points below his scoring average with eleven points.  Justin Sexton was Pomona's leading rebounder with eleven boards.

The first half was a back-and-forth battle.  Both teams shot well; the Poets 43% from the field with Pomona near 42%.  The largest lead for either team was a 15-9 edge for Whittier ten minutes in.  The Sagehens controlled the glass, allowing Whittier just two offensive rebounds with a 20-11 overall advantage.  The Poets took care of the ball, however, committing just three turnovers while forcing 13 in the half.  A 15-0 edge in points off turnovers gave Whittier the 28-25 edge at the break.

The Poets turned it on in the second half.  Their rebounding effort received a boost in the second half from Vernon Covington.  Twelve of his sixteen rebounds came in the final stanza.  Whittier never trailed in the half and in a five minute stretch, used a 12-0 run to take a 47-30 lead that proved to be a big enough cushion to close the game.  Pomona cut the lead to six with four minutes remaining, but the Poets went 9-for-10 from the charity stripe from that point forward.

Whittier travels to SCIAC-leading Occidental College in their next contest.  The game is on January 30 at 7:30pm, in Eagle Rock, Calif.