THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The Whittier College
men's basketball team will host a Southern California
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoff game on Friday evening
at 7:30 p.m. thanks to Marcus Gibson. The senior
from Villa Park, Calif., connected on a three-pointer with 0.8
seconds left in the game to lift the Poets to a 68-66 win over Cal
Lutheran and clinch the No. 2 seed in the upcoming SCIAC playoffs.
The Poets (16-9, 10-4 SCIAC) trailed 66-65 with three seconds
left in the game when coach Rock Carter called a timeout to set up
the Gibson game-winner. Cal Lutheran's Kyle Knudsen hit a layup
with 14 seconds left to put the Kingsmen up by one-point.
Gibson finished the game with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting which
includes a 3-for-6 effort from behind the three-point line.
The purple and gold built a first half lead that reached as many
as 11 points twice before it went into the half with a 35-25 lead.
The lead at the intermission was the Poets' third 11-point lead of
the half.
Cal Lutheran (18-7, 10-4 SCIAC), who entered the game
ranked second in the SCIAC and needed a win to host a playoff game,
outscored the Poets 42-33 in the second half.
Keegan Hoover scored a team-high 15 points
while Travis Crow poured in 11 points in the win.
The Poet will host either Cal Lutheran or Pomona-Pitzer on
Friday evening in the conference semifinals. Whittier's opponent
will be determined by a coin-toss on Wednesday morning. WC
swept both Cal Lutheran and Pomona-Pitzer this season.
