Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College Men's Basketball team needed a second half comeback to top the Kingsmen of Cal Lutheran University 70-67 Saturday afternoon.

The Purple & Gold erased a 12-point deficit midway through the second half as they pulled off their third straight victory and their fourth out of their last five games.  They improve to 5-3, 2-0 SCIAC.

Whittier found it tough all night to get anything going as they faced off against a CLU squad who was 1-7, 0-1 SCIAC coming in.  But the Kingsmen gave WC all they could handle using a 10-2 run early in the first half to take a 20-10 lead with 13:00 minutes to play in the period. 

Junior transfer Jude Agbasi (Los Angeles, Calif.) got things going at the 9:18 mark knocking down a triple that cut the deficit to five.  He then came back two minutes later to add another as the score moved to 28-24.  That triple sparked ten unanswered in three minutes by the Poets, which included lay-ups from Nick Manor-Hall (Chino Hills, Calif.), Ahmad Young (Sunnyvale, Calif.), and Nolan Black (Olympia, WA).

This run also swung the momentum giving WC a 31-28 lead.  CLU bounced back right afterwards with a pair of three-pointers from Palmer Chaplin and Lachlan Hannemann that put the Kingsmen back up five.  Then with :27 seconds to play Nick Potthoff (Phoenix, AZ) would connect for a three-pointer that cut the deficit to three going into the break.

An early 10-2 run by CLU to start off the second half put the Poets in an early hole at 47-38.  But somehow Whittier was able to put together their biggest comeback on the season sparked by a Potthoff triple and an and one from Agbasi that made it a three-point game.  Nine straight from CLU right afterwards would move the deficit back to double digits at the 10:25 mark.  But again the Poets didn't go away as they put together another run this time scoring eight of the next ten points, five of which came from Young that cut the lead to six. 

The Kingsmen pushed the lead back to double digits with 8:34 to play but couldn't hold it as a frantic 10-2 run by the Purple & Gold, which included five coming from Nick Colosi (La Mirada, Calif.) capped off with a Potthoff three-pointer would get WC within two at 64-62.

Following a Cole Thomas layup at the 3:41 mark, Colosi then responded with his own layin that kept Whittier within striking distance.  Trailing by three with 3:02 to play WC made their final push as Young would convert an and one that tied the game up.  The next trip down the floor Young would force a turnover and would go down adding the go-ahead layin with 1:48 to play.  Journey Shank (Burbank, Calif.) then stepped up on the Kingsmen's next possession forcing a turnover and finding Colosi who was fouled.  After Colosi would go 1-for-2 from the line, CLU would come down and turn the ball over one more time giving the ball back to Whittier with :26 seconds to play.  A jumper from Shank would be off the mark the next time down the floor but that gave CLU just :17 seconds to find the equalizer.  Chaplin attempted a deep three but was contested by Manor-Hall as Whittier would hold on for the home-victory. 

Whittier shot 41% from the field and 21% from three-point territory.  They were outrebounded 39-22 but forced 25 Cal Lutheran turnovers turning them into 28 points.  The Poets also added 32 points in the paint and outscored the CLU bench 41-5.

Young led the Poets with a team high 19 points off the bench with three assists and three steals.  Potthoff finished with 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting to go with eight boards, a steal and a pair of blocks.  Colosi came off the bench and added 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting in 20 minutes of action.  Agbasi in just nine minutes off the bench added nine points on 3-of-4 shooting.  Shank at the point put up three points to go with a game high five dimes and two steals and Kenyatta Louder (Compton, Calif.) and Black combined for just nine points.       

The next time the Poets take the court it will be in Santa Cruz, Calif. They travel next weekend, December 21-22 and will take on Lewis & Clark (Dec. 21 @ 3:00pm) and Denison (Dec. 22 @ 1:00pm).