Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Whittier College Men's Basketball team played with limited numbers Saturday evening and it proved costly as they dropped a lopsided decision 82-57 to Occidental College.

The Purple & Gold had no answer for Zach Baines or Andrew Johnson who lit up the Poets for 26 and 25 points, each respectively.  Whittier was held to just 35% shooting and saw a 36-21 deficit at halftime turn into a 30-point margin with 3:00 minutes to play. 

A pair of Louis Kurihara (Culver City, Calif.) free throws would deadlock the game at 6-6 at the 12:50 mark in the first half.  Anthony Martinez (Cerritos, Calif.) would then put together his own spurt with seven in a row, which included a three-pointer that put Whittier on top 13-11.  Freshman Nick Potthoff (Phoenix, AZ) would then pick it up soon after with seven of his own, which included a triple that again put WC on top, this time 20-17.

But a 19-1 run by the Tigers over the final 6:39 would give them a lead at the break.  Six straight out of the half would extend the Oxy lead to 42-21 and they remained hot from there despite Potthoff adding 11 points in the frame. 

Potthoff led the Poets with 18 points and five rebounds off the bench, while Martinez added nine points.  Ryan Henry (Fontana, Calif.) also came off the bench and chipped in with nine points and had three boards in 17 minutes of action.

Whittier was outrebounded 38-30 and was outscored in the paint 26-20, while turning the ball over 15 times.         

Whittier returns home this week, Thursday, February 2 as they host Cal Lutheran University with game time set for 7:00pm.