Photo by: Tony leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. – On a night full of PAC the GAC festivities, Poet Pit pride, and great basketball, the Whittier College men's basketball team triumphed over the Tigers of Occidental College 78-73 clinching a SCIAC post season berth.

The Poets now run their record to 16-6, 8-3 SCIAC, while Occidental drops to 9-12, 5-6 SCIAC.

The Tigers were coming into this evening's contest with three straight wins with a big win coming against Pomona-Pitzer last week.  With the win this evening the Poets remain tied in second place in SCIAC with Pomona-Pitzer with the Sagehens having the slight nod due to their previous win against the Poets in their previous matchup.

Next Saturday's game, February 18 against the Sagehens will have playoff implications with a first round home playoff game on the line.  If Pomona-Pitzer wins then they finish in second place outright but if Whittier can take the victory against the Sagehens and then beat La Verne at home on February 21 then the Poets will finish in second and will claim the first round home game. 

Four players reached double figures led by SCIAC leading scorer Drew Menez who finished with 21 points on 9-of-18 shooting to go with four rebounds and two steals.  He is currently averaging over 17 ppg and is seeking a player of the year nod within SCIAC.

Jack Hanley on the other side for Occidental finished with a game high 27 points on 10-14 shooting going 3-of-4 from behind the three point line. 

Whittier used a 10-5 run to open the first half behind two three pointers, a lay in and a jumper but saw the Tigers hang around and tie the game up at 17-17 at the 8:15 mark.  But Whittier used a 15-2 run to bust the game wide open behind Nathaniel Easterman and five of his 18 points helping the Poets take a 32-19 lead.  He again missed a double double as he finished with eight boards.  But Oxy used a 6-2 run to close out the half to only trail by nine.

Coming out of intermission, the Tigers went on a 7-0 run in a two minute span getting within two at 34-32, but a Greg Preer three pointer and Easterman jumper again pushed the lead back to seven.  From this point Whittier continued to play aggressively and forced eight turnovers and despite being outscored 48-44 in the second half their big margin early allowed them to stay out in front down the stretch. 

Kelly Johnson at the end sealed the deal for the Poets as he knocked down four free throws helping him finish with 12 points, while dishing out six assists. 

Whittier now looks to solidify their No. 2 seed by traveling to Caltech on Wednesday, February 15 beginning at 7:30pm before traveling to Pomona-Pitzer to take on the Sagehens on Saturday, February 18 at 7pm with playoff implications on the line.