Box Score Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College Men's Basketball team saw their quest for a berth into the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Tournament come to a close Saturday afternoon as they would fall 78-69 to Occidental College.
It was a must win game for the Purple & Gold who now fall to 10-12, 5-8 SCIAC. They have now dropped six of their last seven and move to 7th in the SCIAC Standings.
Journey Shank (Burbank, Calif.) returned to the point following a short absence due to a concussion and he got the Poets off to a strong start with his penetration. It was a tight opening quarter with Whittier seeing themselves in a small deficit 21-14. But a triple from Nick Colosi (La Mirada, Calif.) and a jumper from Ahmad Young (Sunnyvale, Calif.) would get WC within two at 21-19.
A few minutes later Nick Potthoff (Phoenix, AZ) would tie things up with a three-pointer and that led to a free throw from Jude Agbasi (Los Angeles, Calif.) and a jumper from Kenyatta Louder (Compton, Calif.) that put the Purple & Gold on top for the first time at 27-24. After giving up the lead Young put the Poets back on top 32-31 with a triple and Agbasi converted two free throws that extended the advantage to 34-31. With 2:10 to play in the half Oxy managed to get back to back three-pointers from Jacob Adler that put them on top 37-34 but again WC was able to rally with a Potthoff jumper and three-pointer that gave the Poets a 39-37 lead at the break.
The second half was tough offensively for the Poets being held to just 30 points, while watching Oxy put up 41 en route to the comeback victory. It all came down to the final minutes of the game. With 6:22 to play the Poets led 67-63 after a Young triple, but the Tigers were able to rally with nine unanswered that put them on top 72-67 with 3:08 to play. Potthoff ended the run with a jumper that kept it a three-point game, but that's as close as Whittier would get as a 6-0 run by Occidental over the final 1:46 would secure the road win.
Whittier shot 41% from the field and 33.3% from deep. They were outrebounded 37-32 and lost the battle in the paint 24-20. They did however receive 18 points off turnovers and 12 second chance points.
Young finished with 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting and was a rebound shy of a double double. Potthoff registered 16 points and also chipped in with four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Shank finished with eight points in his return with six boards and two assists and Colosi added seven points and four rebounds off the bench.
Whittier has two home games this week taking on Pomona-Pitzer this Wednesday, February 19 beginning at 7:00pm before hosting the University of Redlands this Saturday, February 22 beginning at 5:00pm.
