Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – The Whittier College men's basketball team saw their winning streak come to a close Sunday as they fell 72-70 to the Wildcats of Linfield College to wrap up day two of the Holiday Inn Express Classic at Kaiser Permanente Arena. 

Trailing most of the game, the Poets finally saw the lead 70-69 with eight seconds to play but a forty foot heave from Ryan Cali as time expired would seal the fate for the Purple & Gold handing them their first loss of the season.

Linfield put together a run early in the first half 23-4 en route to leading 44-31 at the break.  Whittier didn't go away quietly however as they stormed back in the final six minutes of the game with their own 12-0 run to lead 70-69 on Nick Demusis' (Mililani, HI) bucket with 1:14 to play.  The Poets had an opportunity with eight seconds to go to extend their lead but Andrew Bucholtz's (Lone Tree, CO) shot was blocked by DeQuam Walls that setup the game clinching basket.

Demusis ended the night with a team-high 18 points while adding eight rebounds.  Ben Maynard (Pasadena, Calif.) tallied 17 points, sinking 6 of 7 shots from the field, while Andrew Torres (Whittier, Calif.) added 15 points, four rebounds and two blocked shots off the bench.   

Whittier has the Thanksgiving week off from competition as they prepare for two home games against St. Katherines (December 1 @ 7:00pm) and La Sierra (December 4 @ 7:30pm).