Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Whittier college men's basketball team would have liked to end their regular season on a high note winning their third straight game before entering the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic conference (SCIAC) Post Seaon Tournament.  But the Sagehens had other plans holding off the Purple & Gold 71-62 on senior night inside Voelkel Gymnasium.

The win concludes Pomona-Pitzer's season at 10-15 overall and 8-8 in the SCIAC, as the Sagehens almost recovered from an 0-5 start in league play while Joe Eyen and fellow senior Michael Cohen were out with injuries. However, Pomona-Pitzer's loss to Redlands on Saturday, and Whittier's win over Redlands on Monday clinched the fourth and final spot in the SCIAC Tournament for Whittier (15-10, 9-7 SCIAC), even before Tuesday night's game took place.

With nothing to play for, the Sagehens came out hungry and gave the Poets all they could handle looking to avenge their earlier 67-47 loss to Whittier back on January 17.  Adrian Brandon was potentially on his way to a double-double in the first half, before missing the final eight minutes with three fouls after tallying six points and eight rebounds. The Poets, though, slowly built up a seven-point lead with 4:46 left in the half thanks to a 9-0 run sparked by a Ben Maynard (Pasadena, Calif.) three pointer.

But PP didn't go away outscoring the Purple & Gold 11-5 over the final 4:39, which included a three pointer from Kyle McAndrews at the buzzer that moved the score to 33-32 at the half.

Brandon scored on Pomona-Pitzers first possession out of the half, which started a 6-0 run and they wouldn't trail again.  Eyen heated up from long range knocking down four three pointers after halftime with his final two triples coming on back to back possessions that turned a 63-56 PP lead into a 69-58 advantage with 2:53 to go. 

Whittier attempted a comeback with two tres from Maynard and a jumper from Andrew Bucholtz (Lone Tree, CO) in the final few minutes but it wouldn't be enough as the Sagehens would knock down two free throws that secured the nine point victory.

Nick Demusis (Mililani, HI) led the offensive unit finishing with 13 points and seven rebounds.  Maynard had a breakout performance with 12 points all coming on triples and Andrew Torres (Whittier, Calif.) had 11 points, five rebounds, six assists, and two steals in 37 minutes if action.          

Whittier enters the SCIAC Post Season Tournament as the No. 4 seed and looks to advance past the semi-finals for the first time in the program's history since the Tournament originated back in 2008-09.  They will take on Chapman University this Friday, February 27 on the road with game time set for 7:30pm.