Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College Men's Basketball team was forced to come from behind Wednesday night in an 80-71 victory over the University of La Verne in their Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) opener.

The Purple & Gold have now won two in a row and improve to 4-3, 1-0 SCIAC.  They join Redlands, Chapman, and Pomona-Pitzer who each added conference victories. 

Whittier fell behind early seeing La Verne jump out to a 17-point lead late in the first half.  With 4:29 to play in the first half ULV led 34-17 but saw the margin cut down to single digits as the Poets strung together ten unanswered to close out the half moving the score to 40-32. 

Kenyatta Louder (Compton, Calif.) started the run off with an and one, Journey Shank (Burbank, Calif.) made a pair of free throws and Nick Manor-Hall (Chino Hills, Calif.) would add a three-pointer and a one-handed jam that sparked the comeback.

Out of the break Louder kept things going converting a three point play the old fashion way.  That sparked an 8-1 run, which included another dunk from Manor-Hall that cut the deficit to four.  Trailing 46-40, Nick Potthoff (Phoenix, AZ) got into the mix knocking down a triple from the corner and that then led to three lay-ins from Nick Colosi (La Mirada, Calif.), Louder, and Ahmad Young (Sunnyvale, Calif.) and another triple from Potthoff that swung the momentum.

Following the 12-point run, Whittier saw themselves leading 52-46, an advantage they wouldn't give up as they would put together a 7-0 run, with four points coming from Nolan Black (Olympia, WA).  A lay-up from Potthoff and two free-throws from Colosi made it a 12-point margin with 3:15 to play and then Young finished things off with an and one with 1:54 to play. 

Whittier shot 41% from the field and 22% from behind the arc.  They outrebounded the Leopards 38-33 and caused 22 turnovers, getting 28 points off of them.  They added 46 points in the paint and had 13 second chance points as well. 

Louder finished with 21 points going 8-of-13 from the field with five rebounds.  Potthoff added 17 points and six boards and Young chipped in with 15 points off the bench to go with four steals, two assists and three rebounds.  Black added eight points and six rebounds but also was strong defensively with four steals and Colosi and Manor Hall combined for 15 points and 14 rebounds.     

Whittier is off this weekend and will return next Saturday, December 14 when they host Cal Lutheran University beginning at 3:00pm.