Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. - Damon Perry, Jr., recorded his eighth double-double of the season, third in as many outings, as the Whittier College men's basketball team outscored La Verne 51-32 in the second half to erase a five-point halftime deficit and snap its two game losing skid.

The Poets (7-6, 1-2 SCIAC) shot well all night but used a 56 percent effort in the second half to cruise to the 81-67 win on Saturday night in front of a crowd of over 800.

Perry scored 12 of his game-high 21 points in the first half and scored six points in Whittier's modest 8-2 run to open the seconds half to give the purple and gold its first lead of the ball game since the 16:54 mark of the first half.

La Verne (5-9, 1-2 SCIAC) saw the lead one more time for the game, on its ensuing possession, but never led after Josh Deanne put away a feed from AJ Manalo to give WC a 40-39 lead with just over 16 minutes remaining in the game.

Whittier's lead reached as many as 20 points in the second half.

Deanne finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and a game-high six assists, Drew Menez chipped in with 18 points, six boards and four assists and David Hayashi scored 12 points to lead the Poets.

Manalo and Jonathan Saucedo each had four steals in the win.

The Poets outscored La Verne 44-20 in the paint and finished the game 30-of-57 (53 percent) from the field. WC's defense held the Leopards to 31 percent shooting which includes a 6-of-26 (23 percent) effort in the second half.

The purple and gold return to the hardwood on Wednesday, January 20, as they play host to Redlands at 7:30 pm.