Box Score Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
PASADENA, Calif. – The Whittier College Men's Basketball team bounced back following their loss to Claremont-M-S with a solid 98-83 victory over Caltech Wednesday night.
With the victory the Poets have won three of their last four and improve to 8-5, 3-1 SCIAC. They currently sit in 2nd Place within the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Standings trailing undefeated Pomona-Pitzer.
It was a tough start in the opening half for the Poets finding themselves trailing by three at the break 44-41. Nick Potthoff (Phoenix, AZ) and Kenyatta Louder (Compton, Calif.) combined for 18 points across the first 20 minutes but were held without a three-pointer going 0-7. Whittier took their second lead of the game at 12:32 mark following a layup from Nick Colosi (La Mirada, Calif.) and a jumper from Louder. Jude Agbasi (Los Angeles, Calif.) put WC on top a minute later with a triple and Colosi knocked down a free-throw that moved the score to 19-17.
This lead though wouldn't hold as Caltech would storm back with eight unanswered, which included a pair of triples. This put the Beavers on top and they wouldn't relinquish it the rest of the half as a 9-2 run would make the deficit double digits with 6:44 to play. The Poets managed to create some pushback later in the half with seven in a row, which included a Nolan Black tip-in, an Ahmad Young Sunnyvale, Calif.) triple and two free throws from Potthoff. Whittier managed to cut the deficit to one at 42-41 after a Potthoff jumper and a coast to coast layup from Journey Shank (Burbank, Calif.) but with :30 seconds to go Spencer Schenider would put up a layup that pushed the advantage back to three.
It was a big second half for the Poets outscoring the Beavers 57-39, while seeing three players get into double digits. They used a 48.4% shooting half and 13 points from Shank to come from behind. They also were 20-for-23 from the free-throw line down the stretch, which proved huge to pull off the road win.
The final 20:00 minutes was back and forth until the 14:32 mark when Whittier strung together nine straight with layups from Colosi, Agbasi, and Shank, capped off with a three-pointer from Nick Manor-Hall (Chino Hills, Calif.). This put WC on top 63-54 and they didn't look back as Manor-Hall would knock down another triple to make it a double digit lead for the Purple & Gold with 9:50 to play. A pair of free-throws soon after from Agbasi would move the score to 70-58 and from there the Poets would roll with Potthoff and Louder answering from downtown and Shank converting an and one that kept it an eleven point game.
Over the final two minutes Caltech was forced to foul but Whittier was ready knocking down 14 extra points from the line, seven of which came from Shank. During the final run Young was also clutch adding four free throws and a layup.
Four of the five starters registered double figures with Potthoff adding 20 points to go with seven rebounds. Young posted 18 points with seven rebounds and Louder chipped in with 16 points and a pair of steals. Shank added a big game recording 15 points and missed a double double by one after a nine rebound effort. He also registered five assists and two steals.
Whittier shot 49.2% from the field and 39.3% from behind the arc. The battle on the glass was deadlocked at 43, while the Poets were outmuscled inside 36-32. The Poets though did get 27 points from the bench and added 16 points off turnovers. They saw the deficit go from 7-3 to 10-5 and then to 12-7.
Whittier returns home this Saturday, January 11 when they host Chapman University beginning at 2:00pm.
