Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. – Damon Perry and Ricky Kamayatsu reached double figures and Paul Davis and Nathan Easterman combined for 28 points off the bench as the Whittier men's basketball team defeated Occidental on Wednesday night, 76-67.

The Tigers (6-9, 0-4 SCIAC) jumped out early as they opened a 10-0 lead just four minutes into the game but the Poets (7-8, 2-2 SCIAC) responded by dominating the next nine minutes to the tune of a 35-3 run.

Whittier scored 16 consecutive points to take a 16-10 lead at 13:45 and after a free throw interrupted what would have been a 27-0 run the Poets scored nine unanswered points over the next three minutes to lead 27-11.

The purple and gold added another seven points following a Tiger bucket and led 35-13 with 7:32 left in the half.

Occidental used a modest 20-12 run over the remainder of the half to keep within striking distance at the intermission. The Poets led 47-33 at the break.

The Poets shot a blistering 56 percent (20-of-36) in the first half and were 5-of-10 from deep.

The second half lead reached as many as 20 points at the 11-minute mark but Occidental wouldn't go away. The Tigers closed the gap to 10 points just four minutes later but couldn't get closer. Greg Preer hit a layup to push the lead back to 12 and made 1-of-2 free throws three possessions later to make the score 72-59.

In the final minute of the game the Poets led by 13 points. Occidental's Jack Hanley went 4-for-4 from the line in the final half-minute to cut it to nine points.

Perry recorded a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds while Kamayatsu finished with 11 points with nine coming from long range.

Easterman scored 15 points and added five blocked shots and Davis poured in 13 points in the win.

As a team the Poets had 11 blocks.

Whittier will return to action on Saturday night as they hit the road to face Redlands at 7 pm.