Box Score Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
ORANGE, Calif. – With playoff implications on the line and without starting guard Phillip Thomas, the Whittier College men's basketball team stepped up to the occasion and knocked off the Panthers of Chapman University Saturday evening in overtime 61-58 to take sole possession of 4th place in the SCIAC standings.
Thanks to a Pomona-Pitzer loss to Cal Lutheran and a La Verne loss to Claremont-M-S last night, Whittier is now in the driver's seat to move up in the SCIAC standings with Caltech, Occidental, and Pomona-Pitzer left on the regular season schedule.
Whittier moves back to .500 on the season at 11-11, 7-6 SCIAC, while Chapman drops into a three way tie for 5th at 11-11, 6-7 SCIAC with Cal Lutheran and La Verne. Chapman, if faced with a tie, the Panthers do not own the tiebreakers against Whittier or La Verne, but could with Cal Lutheran.
With the absence of Thomas, who returns to the lineup this week sophomore Jacob Porter stepped into the starting rotation and what a game he had finishing with a team high 16 points on 6-11 shooting, while hauling in five boards. He was joined by three other Poets in double figures including Tyree Landrum (13 points), Willie Mebane (12 points), and Chris Barnes-Williams (10 points).
In a game that kept the fans on their feet, the Purple & Gold came from behind handing Chapman their fourth straight loss – all coming at home. Whittier led with just 31 seconds to play after Porter knocked down a jumper and a free throw that gave the Poets a 56-54 lead but on the ensuing possession, Chapman's Colin Zavrsnick put up a tre that rimmed out but Justin Young was there for the put back tying the game up at 56-56 forcing OT.
In the extra period, the Panthers took a brief two point lead but Whittier rallied for the final five points thanks to jumpers from Porter, Barnes-Williams, and a free throw from Mebane that wrapped up the victory for the Purple & Gold. Zavrsnick attempted a desperation three to force a second overtime in the waning seconds but it would come up short allowing Whittier to escape with the three point victory.
Whittier erased a 14-point halftime deficit to knot the game up at 45 with 5:34 to play and then took a 50-45 lead two minutes later, all part of a 15-0 run sparked by Landrum who led the comeback tallying eight of his 13 points in the second half. Landrum also posted 12 rebounds registering a double double. The Poets suffocating press came in handy in the latter stages of the game holding the Panthers scoreless for nearly ten minutes.
Chapman never trailed in the first half and jumped out quickly to a 25-10 lead thanks to a 12-0 run and 11 points from Zavrsnick who posted a game high 22 points. They converted on 13-27 first half attempts, but saw Whittier convert 26 points off of turnovers that proved to be a variable in the Poet comeback.
Whittier returns to the court tomorrow night, Monday, February 11 when they host Occidental College with a SCIAC Post Season berth on the horizon. Game time is set for 7:30pm.
