Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – The Whittier College men's basketball team won their second straight game Friday as they stunned UC Santa Cruz 71-58 during the Holiday Inn Express Classic.

This marks the third win for the Poets over the Banana Slugs since the 2007-08 season with the last victory coming in 2010-11 70-65.   

Whittier again showed their strength out on the perimeter as they shot 48.1% from the field, which included a 38.5% clip from three point territory.  Four players reached double figures led by Andrew Torres (Whittier, Calif.) who tossed in a team high 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

Eric Jennings (Fontana, Calif.) put together another impressive stat line as he finished with 13 points, five rebounds, four assists, a steal, and a block.

Despite falling on the boards 38-33, Whittier induced 16 turnovers and capitalized off of them adding 19 points.  The Poets jumped out in front quickly 9-0 in the first half with four points coming from Nick Demusis (Mililani, HI), which included a two handed jam capped off with a three ball from Jennings.

Louis Kurihara (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) would find his shooting touch less than twenty seconds later when he would connect on one of his two tres on the evening that moved the score to 12-2.  The Poets would then put together an 8-3 run with under 10:00 to play in the half that moved the score to 27-12 before Jacob Contreras (Pleasanton, Calif.) would put the finishing touches on the first stanza with a three ball with 1:11 to play.      

Leading 43-26 at the break, Whittier would see a new Banana Slug squad in the second led by Jared Ponce who tossed in eight of his game high 17 points, which would pull UCSC within 11 with 7:30 to play.

But the Poets would answer with their own 7-0 run over the next two minutes sparked by Ben Maynard (Pasadena, Calif.) off the bench who chipped in with three of his 12 points that put the game out of reach allowing Whittier to pull off the 71-58 victory. 

Whittier remains in Santa Cruz, Calif. this evening, Saturday, November 22 when they take on Linfield beginning at 6:00pm.