Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – The Whittier College Men's Basketball team saw their three-game winning streak come to an end Saturday as they fell 83-82 to Lewis & Clark in overtime.

The Purple & Gold opened up their road trip to Santa Cruz with three wins in a row and four in their last five but were forced to play without their leading scorer Kenyatta Louder (Compton, Calif.) who was out due to a high ankle sprain, which he suffered against Cal Lutheran University.

The Poets were forced to play from behind as they trailed 43-35 at the break.  They were able to put together a strong second half outscoring the Pios 36-28 but were edged 12-11 in extra time, which included L&C pulling off the win with :06 seconds to play. 

In extra time Whittier jumped out in front with a triple from Nick Potthoff (Phoenix, AZ).  But gave up that lead as Nolan Black (Olympia, WA) picked up a foul and technical that gave Lewis & Clark four free-throws, which they would convert moving them ahead 75-74.  Ahmad Young (Sunnyvale, Calif.) would add a lay-in on the Poets next possession, but again the Pios would answer with their own that moved the score to 77-76. 

With 2:13 to play, Jude Agbasi (Los Angeles, Calif.) would knock down a huge triple that gave WC a two-point lead, but a pair of free throws from Matt Brown at the 1:47 mark would tie things up.  Journey Shank (Burbank, Calif.) and Brown would swap baskets after that, which kept the game deadlocked at 81-81.  Following a pair of stops by the Poet defense, Whittier saw themselves with four free throws within a :30 second span that would have iced the game.  But they were only able to go 1-of-4 from the line that kept it a one-point game with :16 seconds left. 

After the last miss WC managed to get the offensive board and all they had to do was hold the ball but Young turned it over, which led to the go-ahead basket for the Pios with :06 seconds remaining.  Whittier got off the final look from Potthoff who shot a three-pointer but it wouldn't fall as Whittier suffered a heart breaker.

Young moved into a starting role with Louder injured and finished with a season high 23 points on 8-of-17 shooting to go with 11 rebounds, two assists and two steals.  Potthoff added 22 points, with 12 coming from behind the arc.  Shank added 11 points with four boards and two assists and Black registered four points, but had 14 boards, two assists, a block and three steals.  Off the bench Agbasi had a game putting up 16 points on 40of-9 shooting.  He also totaled six rebounds, two assists and a steal.         

Whittier shot 37.3% from the field and 29.4% from three-point territory.  What proved the difference were free throws where WC went just 10-of-34 (29.4%).  They did though win the battle on the glass 56-50, added 36 points in the paint and had 20 fastbreak points.  They also turned the ball over 17 times, which led to 22 points for the Pioneers.            

Whittier returns to the court this afternoon, Sunday, December 22 to wrap up their two-game road trip when they take on Denison University beginning at 1:00pm.