Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

ATHERTON, Calif. – The Whittier College Men's Basketball team got their 2015-16 season regular season schedule underway this past weekend but faced a tough two game road trip falling to Menlo College (74-70) and UC Merced (86-78).

Menlo College (L, 74-70)

The first half was a back and forth battle with the game becoming tied on five different occasions and the lead changing hands four times.  Whittier's Eric Jennings (Fontana, Calif.) made back to back lay-ups to help the Purple & Gold go in front 11-9 early but an ensuing 7-0 run by the Oaks would move the score to 16-11 and they wouldn't look back.

The Poets would pull within two on three different occasions with the last coming in the final two minutes of the half with Ben Maynard (Pasadena, Calif.) laying one off the glass and Louis Kurihara (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) knocking down a triple but the Oaks managed to get a lay-up from Jordan Collier that stretched the lead to four at intermission.

In the second half the teams continued to get after each other exchanging baskets.  Menlo would extend their lead to five 36-31 at the 17:46 mark but the lead would soon be short-lived as a 8-3 run by the Poets with a three-pointer and layup coming from Kurihara and a lay-up from freshman Jake Moore (Dallas, TX) would tie things up at 39-39.

Kurihara would put WC on top soon after with another triple that moved the score to 42-39 and was followed by junior transfer Anthony Martinez (Cerritos, Calif.) who connected on a three-pointer as well that helped Whittier hold the lead for the next eight minutes.  The 19-8 run would be capped off with a Kurihara free throw.   

Menlo however weathered the storm and regained the lead with 7:26 to play as they made a push with seven unanswered that put them on top 55-52.  They extended it to 58-53 with 6:36 on the clock but again the Poets didn't go away quietly as Maynard sparked a run adding four of the next six points for the Purple & Gold that put WC back on top 59-58. 

But that lead wouldn't hold up for long as Jonnythan Munkholm made it a one point game with a lay-up followed by a critical three-pointer from Tyler Evans that shifted the momentum back in the Oaks favor.

From there Mikey Eggleton took over scoring seven of his 16 points in the final 2:20 that led the Oaks to the come from behind victory.

Trailing 73-67 with :16 seconds left on the clock Jacob Contreras (Pleasanton, Calif.) knocked down a tre that pull the Poets within three.  After an Oak turnover and a steal from Michael Alvarez (Long Beach, Calif.) Kurihara had a look for the game-tying three pointer with three seconds left on the clock but ended up hitting it off the front of the rim allowing Menlo to escape with the victory. 

Kurihara led the scoring with 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting knocking down four three-pointers.  Moore totaled a career high 16 points and had four assists, while Maynard picked up 12 points and seven rebounds.                      

UC Merced (L, 86-78)

Whittier trailed 34-31 at the break but couldn't overcome a Bobcat offensive outpouring in the second as they shot 50% from the field, which included 54.5% from three-point territory. 

11 players saw the court with Moore leading the way with 19 points and nine boards.  Jennings would toss in 15 to go with seven assists, five rebounds, a steal, and a block, and Maynard rounded out the starting five with 11 points.

Off the bench, Mike Jones-Mensah (Ghana, Africa) had 10 points with four boards in nine minutes of action.

Whittier has a long break before returning to action when they will travel to take on West Coast Baptist on December 3 beginning at 7:00pm.