REDLANDS, Calif. – It was a rough day in the water for the Whittier College men's water polo team as Redlands used overtime to down the Poets 9-8 in conference action and No. 16 Cal Baptist erased a halftime tie to win 8-5.

Against the Bulldogs, Rilesh Desai had five assists and a goal to pace the offense while Will Jackson recorded a hat trick.

Desai got the Poets on the board at 2:44 of the first quarter but Redlands ended the first eight minutes on a 2-0 run to hold a one goal advantage at the end of the quarter.

Robert Nihei evened the count at the 2:27 mark of the second and Keary Schlactus scored just 37 seconds later put the purple and gold up one but Redlands took advantage of a man-up opportunity with the equalizer with just two seconds left before halftime.

Redlands outscore the Poets 2-1 in the third and held a 6-4 lead with 7:35 left in regulation before Whittier mounted its comeback.  Jackson scored the first of his three fourth quarter goals at 6:06, he tied the score at 7-7 with a scoring strike at 4:37 and he sent the game to overtime with 1:26 left.

No goals were scored in the first three-minute extra session but Redlands found the eventual game winner at 2:33 of the second overtime.

In the night cap against nationally ranked Cal Baptist the Poets jumped out to a 2-1 first quarter and went into the break tied at 2-2. At the 3:56 mark of the third quarter Jackson scored to knot the score at 4-4 but that would prove to be as close as Whittier would get.

CBU scored the next three goals and traded scores with the Poets in the final four minutes for the three-goal win.

Jackson tallied his second hat trick of the day and added two steals to his stat line.

Whittier will try to get back on the winning track on Wednesday, November 3, as it travels to Thousand Oaks, Calif., to tango with Cal Lutheran at 4 pm.