Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

PASADENA, Calif.– The Whittier College Men's Basketball team traveled to Caltech Wednesday evening and squashed any comeback efforts by the Beavers in an 86-72 victory to improve to 8-6, 2-3 SCIAC. 

Following Saturday's loss to Pomona-Pitzer and falling to 1-3 in SCIAC play, the Poets were in dire need of a win to keep them relevant in the league.  Chris Barnes-Williams (Salt Lake City, UT) and Nick Demusis (Mililani, HI) had 17 points each while Tyree Landrum (Los Angeles, CA) and Eric Jennings (Fontana, CA) added 16 a piece to pace the Whittier offense.

After jumping out to a 27-12 lead in the first ten minutes, the Poets saw their advantage diminished to 29-27 following a tenacious 3:23 outburst from Caltech. Not to be outdone, Whittier steadily rebuilt its lead with 3-pointers from Demusis, Jennings, and Ben Maynard (Huntington Beach, CA). Landrum was 6-6 from the field in the first 20 minutes and the Poets headed to the locker room up 44-35.

The Beavers came within four by scoring five points to start the second half, but Jennings continued his success from the perimeter by knocking down consecutive shots from beyond the arc to put the Poets up by 10.  Caltech would add six more to pull back within two scores with 14:43 to play in the game, but Barnes-Williams and Demusis tossed in a combined 12 points to shift the momentum back to the Purple and Gold for good. Jennings added another trey late in the game and finished the night 5-8 from behind the arc. 

The Beavers matched the Poets in nearly every statistical category, and guard Andrew Hogue tallied a double-double with game highs in points (20) and rebounds (11).  But a commanding effort in the paint, led by Demusis with nine boards, saw Whittier outscore Caltech 25-12 on second chance opportunities. Sophomore guard David Richardson (Los Angeles, CA) had nine assists to facilitate the offense. 

Whittier will travel to La Verne this Saturday, January 18 for a 5:00pm meeting with the Leopards before returning home next Wednesday, January 22 to host Redlands at 7:30 pm in a rematch of their first SCIAC game of the season.