Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

LA VERNE, Calif. – The Whittier College men's basketball team has now dropped their second straight contest after seeing La Verne use a big second half run to earn a 77-69 victory Wednesday evening.

Whittier now drops to 10-11, 6-6 SCIAC, while La Verne improves to 8-13, 6-6 SCIAC.  Despite the loss, Whittier is still in contention for a playoff spot and is now in a three way tie for fourth place with Chapman and La Verne due to Pomona-Pitzer beating Chapman last night.    

Despite seeing Chris Barnes-Williams tally a team high 25 points on 10-16 shooting and seven boards it wasn't enough to help propel the Purple & Gold back into the driver seat late in the second half after they saw La Verne use a 40-29 second half run to earn the eight point victory.

La Verne got a big boost from senior Jake Vieth who poured in a game and career high 33 points that helped keep the Leos in the contest early as they trailed 40-37 at the half.  Late in the second half with 9:39 to play, Whittier held onto a 59-57 lead but shortly after Vieth knocked down a three pointer that gave the Leopards a one point lead and one they would not relinquish.  With 5:53 to play in the contest Vieth extended the Leo lead to six 69-63 giving them some extra cushion and they maintained this advantage up until the 2:00 mark when the Poets pulled within two 71-69 after a pair of field goals from Willie Mebane and Barnes-Williams. 

But Vieth again answered with a layin that pushed the La Verne lead back to four with under a minute to play.  After Whittier failed to convert on their ensuing one and one possession, La Verne's Alex Wolpe would make two free throws with 28 seconds to play that sealed the victory for the Leos. 

Dylan Irwin who got the starting nod last night for Tyree Landrum played significant minutes tossing in a season high 15 points on 5-6 shooting to go with five boards.

Wolpe for La Verne finished with a double double tossing in 14 points on 5-8 shooting, while grabbing 10 boards and Vieth again finished with 33 points on 11-18 shooting to go with six rebounds. 

Whittier returns to the court this Saturday, February 9 with playoff implications on the line when they travel to Orange, Calif. to take on the Panthers of Chapman University beginning at 7:00pm.