Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College Men's Basketball team celebrated their Centennial Saturday afternoon as they welcomed back over 100 Alumni to take part in a pre-game luncheon before being recognized at halftime.

The Purple & Gold didn't disappoint either as they rolled to the lopsided 94-76 victory over Caltech moving into sole possession of second place by a game in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) standings. 

Whittier (13-9, 8-5 SCIAC) knocked down 12 three-pointers on the afternoon at a 38% clip, while generating an additional 11 shots thanks to a +10 turnover margin to claim the victory.

The Poets jumped out in front quickly 22-8 at the 13:18 mark with three early triples from Louis Kurihara (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) and Anthony Martinez (Cerritos, Calif.).  They also added a 9-1 run soon after with lay-ups from Eric Jennings (Fontana, Calif.), and Martinez, while Andrew Torres (Whittier, Calif.) capped off the run with two lay-ups and a free throw.

The margin held for the next two minutes before Caltech began their rally cutting the Poet lead to single digits with 9:08 left on the clock. 

CIT pulled within six on a pair of free throws from Lawrence Lee, and Brent Cahill made it a five point game after knocking down one of two free throws.  Whittier stretched the lead back to seven after a Richard Kaye (Irvine, Calif.) lay-up and traded baskets with the Beavers the rest of the half before taking a 45-38 lead into the break.

But this would be as close as the Beavers would get as Whittier would add 49 points in the second half as they would increase their lead to as many as 22 at one point behind a 12-2 run with under ten minutes to play.  The run includedChris Kapano (Los Alamitos, Calif.), Martinez, and Kaye lay-ups, and tres from Martinez and Conner Longmire (Tarzana, Calif.). 

Whittier shot 51% from the field, forced 19 turnovers and added 22 points off of them. 

Four players recorded double digits.  Jennings had 18 with six steals, two assists, and four rebounds.  Kurihara had a lights out game with 18 himself going 4-of-9 from behind the arc.  Martinez had 16 with five assists going 7-for-11 from the field and Kapano had 13 off the bench missing just one shot on the afternoon in 15 minutes of action. 

Kaye put together another impressive game playing in place of Jake Moore (Dallas, TX).  He put up nine points, had five boards, two assists, and two steals, while shooting 50% from the field.       

Whittier returns to the court tonight, February 17 when they take on Redlands on the road beginning at 7:30pm.