Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – For the second straight game the Whittier College Men's Basketball team was without their leading scorer Kenyatta Louder (Compton, Calif.).  But Sunday they didn't need the 6'6" senior, as they would get past Denison University 80-69.

It was a tight opening half with the Purple & Gold holding the slight edge at 35-34.  The story of the game though was the second half where Whittier came out outscoring the Big Red 45-35 en route to their sixth win on the season.

Nick Potthoff (Phoenix, AZ) led all scorers pouring in 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting, which included four three-pointers.  Nick Colosi (La Mirada, Calif.) came off the bench to add 14 points and eight boards and Ahmad Young (Sunnyvale, Calif.) in 27 minutes of action added 13 points and five assists.

The opening 20 minutes saw 12 lead changes, with Potthoff adding 13 points in the frame.  Then in the second stanza WC put together an early 14-6 run with back to back triples from Potthoff and a couple of lay ins from freshman Nick Manor-Hall (Chino hills, Calif.).  This gave the Poets a 49-40 lead at the 15:18 mark. 

Following a timeout from the Big Red they would counter with their own run of nine of the next eleven points that made it a two-point game, which covered four minutes.  Despite the pushback WC would swing the momentum with a three-point play coming from Young, which sparked 10 unanswered, which came from four different scorers.  This moved the deficit to double digits for the first time. 

Leading 72-64 and 3:15 on the clock, Whittier put the game out of reach with seven straight coming from Young and Journey Shank (Burbank, Calif.) who each buried three-pointers.     

Whittier was red hot from the floor shooting 54%, while adding a 43% clip from three-point territory.  They posted 33 rebounds and 34 points in the paint, while getting 22 points from their bench.  

Whittier has a tough match-up this Sunday, December 29 when they take on the Division I USD Toreros on the road.  It is an exhibition contest with tip-off set for 2:00pm.