Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The Whittier College Men's Basketball team saw their lowest scoring output of the season occur Saturday afternoon in Gilbert Arena as they saw their three game winning streak come to a close in a 54-52 loss to Cal Lutheran University.

The Purple & Gold, one of the hottest teams in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) going into Saturday following wins over La Verne, Claremont-M-S, and Pomona-Pitzer was unable to capitalize with CLU's top player on the bench with an injury.

Whittier (7-6, 3-2 SCIAC) led for the first 14 minutes of the game thanks to a 10-2 run sparked by back to back three pointers from Jacob Contreras (Pleasanton, Calif.) and Chris Kapano (Los Alamitos, Calif.).  CLU pulled within one at 23-22 on a Dan Wade three pointer right before going in front after a Lanaki Apele stealand layin.

The teams would exchange buckets for the remainder of the first half but the Kingsmen managed to hold a 32-31 advantage at the break.

Out of the locker rooms, neither team was able to get into any rhythm.  Contreras knocked down a three-pointer that pulled WC within one at 47-46 and Anthony Martinez (Cerritos, Calif.) followed with a pair of free throws that kept Whittier within a point.

Eric Jennings (Fontana, Calif.) converted a lay-up that moved the score to 53-52 but Whittier would then be shut out over the final 4:51 leading to the 54-52 loss.

Whittier was led by 11 points apiece from Andrew Torres (Whittier, Calif.) and Martinez and Torres also paced the Poets with seven rebounds, adding three assists and two steals.

Overall, CLU out rebounded WC 41-32 with 14 offensive boards that the Kingsmen converted into 10 second chance points while Whittier finished with just two offensive rebounds.  Whittier though on the evening shot better from the field than CLU (40.4%-32.2%), better from deep (46.2%-11.1%), and had the edge on free throws (88.9%-68.2%). 

Whittier returns home to the GAC this week as they host Occidental College on Wednesday, January 20 beginning at 7:30pm before taking on the Bulldogs from the University of Redlands this Saturday, January 23 beginning at 2:00pm.