Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. - The Whittier College men's basketball team couldn't play spoiler on Saturday night as Cal Lutheran kept its playoff hopes alive with a 78-71 win in front of a crowd of over 900 at the Graham Athletics Centers.

The Poets' (10-13, 4-9 SCIAC) comeback fell short as they trimmed a 14-point second half deficit to six points with 1:45 left in the game.

Cal Lutheran (14-10, 8-5 SCIAC) pushed its lead back to eight points at 74-66 on its next possession but WC once again climbed within six points with 43 seconds left on a layup by David Hayashi.

The Kingsmen scored the game's next three points on foul shots but the Poets were within two possessions at 77-71 with 29 seconds remaining after DaMon Perry converted the old fashion three-point play.

The Poets fouled to stop the clock with 18 seconds left and CLU's Aaron Fisher hit the back end of a pair of foul shots to put the Kingsmen up 78-71. The Cal Lutheran defense prevented the Poets from getting a good look at the bucket and Hayashi forced a three in the closing seconds that was blocked by Greg Grimm.

For the second straight game the Poets got off to a slow start as CLU scored the game's first 10 points.

Hayashi scored a team-high 19 points and Drew Menez added 15. Perry recorded a 14-point, 10-rebound, double-double and senior Jonathan Saucedo scored 12 points in his final home game of his career. Saucedo added seven boards, one assists and a steal.

AJ Manalo scored five points in his home finale. He had three rebounds, one assist and three steals.

Zach Corns tallied four points in his final home game. He played only six minutes before leaving the game with an ankle injury.

Whittier will wrap up its season on Tuesday evening in Pasadena as it takes on Caltech at 7:30 pm.