Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College men's basketball team continues to play good basketball here in 2014 as they closed out the year with a split during the Purple & Gold Poet Classic wrapping up their non-conference schedule beating UC Santa Cruz 78-63 before falling 79-75 to Albion College in the Championship Game.
Junior Andrew Torres (Whittier, Calif.) led the Purple & Gold over the two games being named the Classic's Most Valuable Player joining Jordan Herron (Albion), Travell Oakes (Albion), Jared Ponce (UC Santa Cruz), Tyler Berkness (UC Santa Cruz), and Sean Milligan (Redlands) on the All-Tournament Team.
With the split the Poets improve to 6-3 and look forward to their Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) opener this Saturday, January 3 as they host Chapman University beginning at 7:00pm.
Game 1 (UC Santa Cruz – W, 78-63)
The previous time these two teams met the Poets edged the Banana Slugs 71-58 on the road and this time around it was all Whittier once again as they shot45% from behind the arc and 71% from the charity stripe.
Whittier jumped out in front 13-0 sparked by three triples from Ben Maynard (Pasadena, Calif.). The Banana Slugs would eventually get on the board with a pair of free throws at the 12:43 mark but a tre from Torres and a layup by Louis Kurihara (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) would move the score to 18-2.
A 12-2 run by UCSC would cut the deficit to single digits 22-14 but the Poets would add another 11 points in the final 3:07 that gave them a 33-21 lead at the break.
Out of the half, a 9-2 run by UC Santa Cruz would move the score to 35-30 but that's as close as they would get as Jacob Contreras (Pleasanton, Calif.) would knock down back to back threes that moved the deficit back to ten before Torres took over in the final stages of the game adding 20 of his game high 25 points, while grabbing eight boards that put the game out of reach.
Contreras finished with 15 points on the evening going 5-of-9 from deep, while Nick Demusis (Mililani, HI) had 12 points in 32 minutes of action.
Game 2 (Albion – L, 79-75)
In the final game of the Classic the Poets took on a big Albion College squad that was coming off of a victory over the University of Redlands.
Maynard started things off with a corner three ball and was soon followed by an 11-0 run that covered almost four minutes that moved the Poet lead to 14-5. But a 17-4 run by the Britons led by Travell Oakes would erase that lead giving Albion their second lead of the contest at 22-18.
The game would become tied up at 24-24 but five straight by the Brits would give them a slight lead, which they wouldn't relinquish as they took a 38-32 lead into the break.
The Poets continued to remain in striking distance in the second half and would overcome a 13-point deficit midway through the frame to pull within three 69-66 following a 10-0 run with 1:36 to play but Albion would come up with big shots when they needed them to pull off the four point victory.
Maynard finished with double digit scoring with a game high 18 points all coming from deep, while Eric Jennings (Fontana, Calif.) and Demusis had 15 points each and Torres with 14 off the bench.
Free throw shooting proved costly in the end as the Poets went 16-26 (61.5%). They were outrebounded 50-32, lost the battle in the paint 40-24, and 2nd chance points 24-10.
