Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College men's basketball team earned their second victory in a row and their first SCIAC win as they held on for a 68-66 victory over the Leopards of the University of La Verne Wednesday evening in front of 300 strong in the Graham Athletic Center. 

Whittier improves to 3-2, 1-0 SCIAC, while La Verne drops to 1-2, 0-1 SCIAC.

In a conference where any team can beat anyone on any given night was put in full affect this evening as the Poets came from behind late to pull off a two point victory behind a game high 23 point performance from junior transfer Chris Barnes-Williams who chipped in with 23 points on 7-17 shooting.

La Verne held a 62-59 lead with three minutes to play before senior point guard Willie Mebane forced a turnover and added two on the other end of the floor that cut the Leo lead to one 62-61.  But Vince Bauer connected on the ensuing possession for La Verne to extend the Leopard lead to three once more, but Whittier responded on their next series as Williams tallied four points the hard way knocking down a three pointer and being fouled in the process.  He sank the free throw giving the Poets a 65-64 lead.

Alex Wolpe came down for the green and orange and added a layup putting La Verne in front once more 66-65 before Phillip Thomas responded for the Purple & Gold from atop the perimeter where he took his defender off the dribble and drove to the rack putting in two of his 12 points, which put Whittier in front 67-66 giving them a lead they would not relinquish. 

In the final 30 seconds of play, La Verne had two looks for the win but had both shots turned away with the last being by sophomore Tyree Landrum who came up with one of his three blocks on the night from inside the paint denying Alonzo Young. 

Whittier managed to hold on for the two point victory despite giving up a twelve point lead midway through the second half.  La Verne used a 10-0 run that cut the Poet lead to 53-51 with eight minutes to play, but the Poet offensive unit was too much down the stretch.

The Poets forced 24 Leo turnovers led by Thomas who registered 4 steals, while offensively they shot 43% from the field and 52% from the charity stripe.  Despite being outsized inside, La Verne hauled in 39 rebounds compared to Whittier's 31 and saw their bench outscore the Poets 8-0. 

Whittier saw four players reach double figures including Barnes-Williams (23), Thomas (12), Mebane (13), and Landrum (14), while Landrum had a game high 9 boards, 2 steals, and 3 three blocks.

La Verne was led by Jourdan Simmonds who tallied a team high 21 points including a 5-7 performance from three point land, while Jake Veith chipped in with 16.    

Up next for the Poets is a road trip to Claremont, Calif. where they will take on the Stags of Claremont-M-S, this Saturday, December 1 beginning at 7:00pm.