Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

LA VERNE, Calif. – Paul Davis hit the go-ahead lay-up with 31 seconds left in the game and La Verne's attempted game winning shot missed with two seconds left as the Poets defeated La Verne, 53-52, on Saturday night in the SCIAC opener.

Whittier (6-6, 1-0 SCIAC) led by as many as 10 points with 5:18 left in the game and was forced to turn to Davis for the game winner after the Leopards took a 52-51 lead at the 1:53 mark.

The Poets never trailed until the final 120 seconds and were only tied with La Verne on three occasions; both in the first half. Whittier's first half lead reached as many as six points as the purple and gold went into the intermission with a 29-25 advantage after Ricky Kamayatsu knocked down a three-pointer at the buzzer.

Kamayatsu, who made 10 three-pointers in two games at the Purple & Gold Poet Classic, was held to just a 1-for-4 effort from deep and five points. Greg Preer picked up the slack and scored a game-high 25 points on 10-of-22 shooting.

Damon Perry scored only two points but pulled down nine rebounds and had two blocks in the win.

Statistically, the Leopards were more efficient from the field shooting 38 percent for the game while the Poets shot at a 34 percent clip.

The win by the Poets is their first of the season on the road and drops La Verne to 5-7 overall. Whittier is 2-2 in games played on a neutral court.

Davis scored four points in the win.

Whittier will return to action on Wednesday, January 12, as they travel to Claremont, Calif., to face Pomona-Pitzer at 7:30 pm.