Photo by: Tony leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. – On an evening that was full of senior day festivities, coaching milestones, half time entertainment, and a packed house full of Poet Faithful, the Poets who needed a win and a Pomona-Pitzer loss received one of two at the conclusion of the night.

Whittier who hung on late to win 68-65 over the Leopards of the University of La Verne saw their No. 2 seed slip away as the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens won in the last three seconds to upset the Stags of Claremont-M-S by a point.

But on the evening, the Poets recognized their seven seniors who were playing in their final regular season game and these players included Greg Preer, Drew Menez, Nathaniel Easterman, Brandon Thomas, Jordan Ramos, Bo Rodriguez, and Kelly Johnson.  This leaves Coach Carter's bench very thin for the upcoming year returning Willie Mebane, Tyree Landrum, and Jacob Porter.

A milestone reached this evening included Head Coach Rock Carter who for the first time in his 17 years as a head coach at Whittier College totaled 18 wins in a season.  Back in 2002-03 he recorded 17 wins and 8 losses, and in 2008-09 he recorded 16 wins and 10 losses.  This marks the first time in his illustrious career that this has happened and it marks the second time in the past three seasons the Poets have made the SCIAC Post Season Tournament. 

The Poets wrap up the regular season 18-7, 10-4 in SCIAC, while La Verne concludes their season at 6-19, 3-11 SCIAC.

The Poets who were coming into tonight's contest tied for second place with Pomona-Pitzer was able to pull out the victory this evening to finish tied with the Sagehens but due to Pomona-Pitzer beating the Poets twice this season they win the head to head match-up meaning they finish in second place.

This now means this Friday, February 24 the Poets travel to Pomona-Pitzer to take on the Sagehens beginning at 7pm in the first round of the SCIAC Post Season Tournament. 

The game this evening featured the top two scorers in SCIAC in La Verne's Trevor Woodland and Whittier's Menez.  Woodland was leading by four points heading into tonight's game and he finished with a game high 21 points on 7-of-22 shooting going 5-10 from behind the three point line.  Menez finished with a team high 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting and missed a double double by recording nine rebounds.   

This evening got underway quickly as the Poets used their up tempo offense and trap to force 14 La Verne turnovers, while at the same time holding the Leopards to 29% shooting from the field in the first half.  Whittier used a 7-0 run early to tie the game up at 14-14 and then used a 9-3 run to take their first lead of the contest 22-19 behind seven free throws.

After back to back threes from Woodland that gave the Leopards the lead yet again the Poets used another 5-0 run to take a two point lead with 3:05 to go.  But two Woodland free throws and a Jeremy Lay three gave the Leopards a one point lead 31-30 going into the break.

Coming out of halftime, Whittier opened up on a 10-3 run helping them regain the lead 40-36 sparked by a Preer dunk that got the fans up and on their feet.  After another two threes from the Leopards, Whittier used another 7-0 run to extend their lead to five with just under 12:30 remaining.  Whittier extended their lead to 63-52, which was their biggest lead of the contest thanks to six straight points from Porter who finished with eight points on 3-of-5 shooting. 

But this lead was short lived as La Verne came roaring back cutting the lead to one after an 8-0 run, which was capped off with a three pointer by Lay.  But Whittier didn't falter and picked up their defense and Preer turned away Woodland down the stretch on two trips down the floor with Whittier hanging onto their one point lead. 

Whittier had an opportunity to go up by three but after two missed free throws from Johnson with 21 seconds left; it gave La Verne one last opportunity to win the game.  They had a good look at a three from John Leggett, but it rimmed out and Preer grabbed the rebound and knocked down to free throws helping the Poets preserve the three point win. 

The Poets had four players reach double figures including Menez (14), Easterman (11), Johnson (10), and Preer (10), while Johnson collected four steals and dished out six assists for the game.

Whittier now sets their sights on Pomona-Pitzer as they travel to Claremont, Calif. this Friday, February 24 for the first round of the SCIAC Post Season Tournament that tip-offs at 7pm. 

Tournament Draw  

First Round

#1 Claremont-M-S
#4 Redlands

#2 Pomona-Pitzer
#3 Whittier     

Head Coach Rock Carter (First 18 Win Season)