Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – The Whittier College Men's Basketball team snapped a four game losing skid Tuesday afternoon as they pulled off a come from behind road victory in overtime 87-81 to down the Banana Slugs of UC Santa Cruz.

Whittier moves to 2-4, 0-1 SCIAC, while UC Santa Cruz drops to 5-8.

It was a tight first half with a combined 72 points being scored.  Conner Longmire (Tarzana, Calif.) scored six of the Poets first eight points of game  before Louis Kurihara (Culver City, Calif.) and Chris Kapano (Los Alamitos, Calif.) added back to back triples that gave the Purple & Gold an early 14-5 lead.   

A 5-0 run by UCSC later on would get them within two at 18-16 and a tre by Matthew Nerland would then cut the deficit to one.

Kurihara stopped the run with another three-pointer that moved the lead back to four, but an ensuing 14-2 run by the Banana Slugs would turn the momentum as they would go in front for the first time 33-25 with 2:26 to play in the half.

With under a minute to play, Whittier would provide some more offensive firepower as they would outscore UCSC 10-2 in just :47 seconds.  Kurihara would add a couple free throws and Jacob Aruta (Stockton, Calif.) would convert a three-point play the old fashion way and freshman Nick Potthoff (Phoenix, AZ) would connect on a three pointer as time expired that pulled Whittier within two at 37-35.

In the second half, the Banana Slugs would open things up with four unanswered that moved the score to 41-35.  That's when Longmire caught fire, putting the Poets on his back adding 10 himself, which included back to back to back three-pointers that tied things up at 51-51.

The Poets didn't stop there as the run continued as Eric Davis (Ventura, Calif.) would add a two handed jam that put WC back on top 53-51 and Longmire again would connect from deep with another triple that put Whittier on top 56-53.

Eight in a row at the midway mark of the half would move the deficit to nine as Whittier was in full control but again UCSC didn't go away quietly as they added five straight free throws to pull within four.

A Kapano lay-up and a three-pointer from Potthoff would again move the advantage back to nine for the Poets but again another 7-2 run by Santa Cruz would keep them in the ball game. 

Potthoff again drained another three-pointer with 3:16 to play that made the score 74-67 but a 6-0 spurt soon after by the Banana Slugs would cut the deficit to one with :26 seconds to play.

A quick foul would send Kapano to the charity stripe for a pair.  He would make one of two and as time expired, Tre Weston would add a lay-in as UCSC would force the game into OT.

In the extra period, it was all Whittier.  Longmire added the first points with a lay-up and Aruta would answer soon after with back to back tres that opened the game up.  Kyle Creighton and Adam Marlow would add three free throws to keep the game close for UCSC but Longmire and Kurihara would secure the road win adding a lay-in and two free throws down the stretch. 

Longmire finished with a career high 26 points on 10-of-19 shooting that went with five rebounds and four assists.  He was joined by Kurihara who added 13 and eight assists, while Potthoff was 4-of-9 from deep for 13 points and six rebounds. 

Kapano ran the point and added 10 in 36 minutes of action.  He also had four boards and three assists.  Off the bench, Aruta went off for 11 points, while Davis registered 10 with five rebounds. 

Despite being outrebounded 50-32, Whittier shot 48% from the field, which included a 48% clip from behind the arc.  Whittier also added 17 points off turnovers and had 23 bench points.             

Whittier returns home to have a break for the Holidays before returning to practice to begin preparations for the Purple & Gold Poet Classic on December 29-30 as they take on La Sierra (Thursday, December 29 @ 8:00pm) and Linfield (Friday, December 30 @ 7:00pm).