Whittier College traveled to Occidental College on January 30 as they continue SCIAC action, and the Poets lost 79-62 to the conference-leading Tigers.  The loss drops the Poets' record to 9-8 overall and 2-4 in conference play.

Uriahn Barragan '09 and Jeff McLean '09 led the Poets with 13 points apiece.  Barragan went 3-for-5 from three-point range.  Vernon Covington '08 finished with ten points, six rebounds and three assists.  Mike Archuletta '09 scored nine points off the bench.

Occidental (15-2, 5-1) scorched the nets throughout the game.  They shot 66% from the field in the first half and 60% in the game.  Connor Whitman was the game's leading scorer with 23 points, including five three-pointers.  He also grabbed six rebounds and had three assists.  Sean Anderson recorded a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.  Huston Conti and Chris Hunt finished with 18 and 14 points, respectively.

The Tigers had the lead from the start of the game.  They scored the game's first five points and didn't trail in the first half.  Their largest lead in the opening frame was an eleven point edge they held as the halftime buzzer sounded. 

The Poets opened the second half with a 12-4 run that cut the lead to three four minutes into the half.  Barragan hit a lay-up with twelve minutes remaining that made the score 52-48, but the Poets wouldn't get closer for the remainder of the game.  Occidental responded with an 11-0 run that increased the lead to fifteen points, and they would lead by as many as 19 points.  A McLean jumper with twenty seconds left made the final score 79-62.

The Poets won the turnover battle 16-10, but were unable to keep the Tigers off the glass, getting out rebounded 36-19.

Whittier looks to bounce back in their next contest as they return to the friendly confines of the Graham Athletics Center to take on the California Institute of Technology on February 2.  The SCIAC game is scheduled to start at 7:30pm.