Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. – The Beavers of Caltech provided a scare for the Whittier College men's basketball team Tuesday night in the Graham Athletic Center as they stormed out in front 14-4 in the first  four minutes.  But it would soon be short-lived as the Poets would mount a comeback taking a lead as many as 32 en route to the lopsided 79-65 victory. 

This marks the first Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) victory for the Purple & Gold as they move to 7-4, 1-1 SCIAC, while Caltech drops to 1-9, 0-1 SCIAC.

Despite trailing by ten early the Poets managed to chip away at the Beaver lead eventually taking an 18-17 lead at the midway point sparked by two three pointers from freshman Louis Kurihara (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) and they didn't look back as they put together 8-0 and 11-0 runs to close out the half.

Nick Demusis (Mililani, HI) led that charge putting the Poets on top for good with an emphatic one handed jam in traffic before knocking down a three pointer at the buzzer that gave the Poets a 46-26 lead at the break.

But Caltech didn't go away quietly as they would outscore the Poets 39-33 in the second half led by Luke Lango who had all 12 of his points coming off the bench that kept CIT within striking distance. Head Coach Rock Carter found himself putting in his second string later in the frame only to see the Beavers put together a 13-3 run that moved the score to 77-56. 

In one last ditch effort CIT would add the final six points of the game to pull within 14 but it wouldn't be enough as Whittier would come away with their first conference victory.

Whittier saw all 14 players see time on the court with four players reaching double figures.  Andrew Torres (Whittier, Calif.) led all scorers with 17 points to go with five rebounds and five assists.  Demusis finished with 13, along with David Richardson (Los Angeles, Calif.) who also totaled two steals, a block, and an assist, while Andrew Bucholtz (Lone Tree, CO) picked up a season high 12 points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block.

Kc Emezie led the Beavers with 17 points in 35 minutes of action to go with five boards and two blocks, while Bryan Joel picked up five assists and eight points.

Whittier remains in conference play as they travel to the University of La Verne this Saturday, January 10 with a 4:00pm match-up with the Leopards.