Box Score Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Whittier College Men's Basketball team had their hands full Wednesday night facing off against an undefeated Pomona-Pitzer squad, who came in ranked No. 24 Nationally in Division III, but rose to the occasion handing them their first conference loss 97-93.
The Purple & Gold have now won two of their last three and improve to 9-6, 4-2 SCIAC. They now sit in a tie for 2nd in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) standings with Claremont-M-S.
It was a lights out shooting night for both teams inside Voelkel Gymnasium as each team shot 50% from the field. The difference though came from three-point territory where the Poets shot a season high 50%, going 17-of-34. WC also held the edge on the glass at 38-36, but was outscored in the paint 46-22.
After falling behind early 9-5 Whittier retook the lead with seven unanswered thanks to a pair of jumpers from Kenyatta Louder (Compton, Calif.) and Nick Potthoff (Phoenix, AZ) and a triple from Ahmad Young (Sunnyvale, Calif.). This lead would hold for the Purple & Gold throughout the first half as three players would record double digits. Pomona-Pitzer made one push late in the period tying things up at 28-28 at the 8:07 mark, but WC would get hot once again thanks to Young who would add eight of the next eleven points, which included two triples moving the score to 39-34. With 4:45 to go Nolan Black (Olympia, WA) converted inside to push the advantage to seven and then to cap off the frame Potthoff would go off with a three-pointer and jumper that gave the Poets a 46-41 lead at the break.
The Poets picked up where they left off in the second half and opened up their largest lead of the night on the Sagehens at 10 points at 55-45, just over two minutes into the half. Young sparked the push with back to back triples and a free throw and Black ended it with a layup. Pomona-Pitzer though wasn't worried and chipped away at the lead eventually going in front at 66-64 after two three's from Matthew Eberle. Out of a timeout the lead exchanged multiple times throughout the following minutes eventually leading to Whittier holding an 83-82 advantage after a three-pointer from Potthoff with three minutes to go. The Sagehens tried to make a late comeback but the Poets stayed solid at the line knocking down nine free-throws to lock down the upset win.
Young finished with a career high 28 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while knocking down five triples. He was also a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line with five rebounds and five assists. Louder registered 23 points also adding five three-pointers and also totaled six rebounds and three assists. Potthoff supported with 15 points, shooting 50% from the field and Nick Manor-Hall put up 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting off the bench. Journey Shank (Burbank, Calif.) ran the point and had a solid game with nine points, four rebounds and a season high seven dimes. He was 3-for-7 from the field with a block.
Whittier travels again this Saturday, January 18 when they take on Occidental College beginning at 2:00pm.
