Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The Whittier College Men's Basketball team suffered their first triple digit loss on the season Saturday as they fell 117-81 to Cal Lutheran University inside Gilbert Arena.

Whittier remains winless in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play as they drop to 5-6, 0-3 SCIAC, while Cal Lutheran improves to 9-3, 2-1 SCIAC.

Both teams started the game off hot from three-point territory in a tight and high scoring first half.  Whittier led 12-9 at the 15:07 mark thanks to a triple and layup from Nick Potthoff (Phoenix, AZ), jumpers from Eric Davis (Ventura, Calif.) and Jake Moore (Dallas, TX) capped off with a layup and free throw from Jacob Aruta (Stockton, Calif.).

Potthoff would answer soon after with another three-pointer that moved the lead to 19-15 but it would soon evaporate as a 10-2 run by the Kingsmen would give them a lead at 25-21 with 11:57 to play.

Chris Kapano (Los Alamitos, Calif.) would stop the run with a pair of free throws soon after that cut the deficit to two but again six straight by CLU would move the lead back to eight.

Whittier fought back to pull within one at 39-38 thanks to a couple triples from Conner Longmire (Tarzana, Calif.) and Moore with 5:08 to play but that's as close as they would get as the Kingsmen would go on a 13-2 run to take a 12-point lead into the half.             

CLU picked up right where they left off in the second half with an and one and a three-pointer and then began pulling away following four consecutive three-pointers soon after.

The lead turned to 38 later in the second half and despite Kapano adding another ten points it wouldn't be enough as CLU would cruise to the lopsided victory. 

Potthoff finished with 16 points, four steals and five rebounds.  Kapano was 4-for-5 from the field for 12 points, while Longmire came off the bench registering 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting in 24 minutes of action. 

Davis led in rebounds with six and had nine points, while Anthony Martinez (Cerritos, Calif.) added nine points.

Whittier shot 48% from the field and forced 28 turnovers but they were outrebounded (40-25) and were outscored in the paint 46-34.    

Whittier returns home this week for two games.  The first on Thursday, January 12 as they take on Occidental College beginning at 7:00pm before taking on the University of La Verne on Saturday, January 14 with game time set for 7:00pm.