Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

Interview by: Natalie Munguia (Whittier College Sports Network)

WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College men's basketball team remains unbeaten at home after a drubbing Tuesday night 95-63 over the Tigers of Occidental College earning their first Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) victory of the season.

The Poets run their record to 7-5, 1-2 SCIAC keeping intact a 5-0 home record, while Occidental drops to 6-6, 2-2 SCIAC.

Whittier saw four of their five starters record double figures led by senior center Tyree Landrum (Los Angeles, Calif.) who proved to be a presence inside finishing with a double double posting 19 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, and a career high five blocks.  Junior guard Nick Demusis (Mililani, HI) led all scorers with 23 points on 8-13 shooting going 4-5 from deep, while Chris Barnes-Williams (Salt Lake City, UT) and Eric Jennings (Fontana, Calif.) totaled 16 and 13 points, respectively.

From the opening tip it was all Whittier taking a 20-4 lead early thanks to an 11-0 run, which included back to back to back three pointers from Jennings, Barnes-Williams, and Demusis.  The Tigers did storm back however to take a 33-32 lead at the 5:41 mark with a three pointer from Chad Tanioka but it lasted a mere ten seconds because Landrum responded with six points in a two minute span, which included two dunks that brought the Poet faithful to their feet and Whittier a 40-33 advantage.  In the final 1:10, WC would tack on another five points with a layup from Barnes-Williams and a three pointer from Jacob Porter (Temecula, Calif.) giving them a 45-34 advantage at the break. 

In the second half, Whittier continued to roll extending their lead to 17 at 51-34 thanks to six unanswered to open the stanza.  They would increase it to 37 midway through the second and would finish off the half outscoring the Tigers 50-29 to run away with the lopsided victory. 

Whittier shot 51% from the field and 63% from three point territory.  The rebounding was deadlocked at 38 but the story of the game was turnovers with Oxy turning it over 25 times with the Poets adding 22 points off of them.  In their lowest turnover total for the season (13), the Poets were able to combine for 23 assists with 19 points coming from the bench, led by Michael Alvarez (Long Beach, Calif.) and Porter who each added six points.

For Oxy, despite a low 39% shooting night, they had a few bright spots, which included Andrew Johnson who tossed in a double double with 19 points and 12 boards, while Ty Cobb chipped in with his own double double off the bench with 11 points and 11 boards.  Then Kory Hamane rounded out the Tigers in double figures finishing with 12 points going 7-7 from the charity stripe.            

The Poets remain at home at the Graham Athletic Center this Saturday, January 11 as they host Pomona-Pitzer beginning at 5:00pm.