Box Score Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
LA VERNE, Calif. – The Whittier College Men's Basketball team got back on track Wednesday night on the road as they rolled the University of La Verne 93-74.
Playing without starting point guard Journey Shank (Burbank, Calif.) who has been out due to a concussion the Purple & Gold were able to snap their four-game losing streak improving back to .500 at 10-10, 5-6 SCIAC. With the win they are also still in the hunt for a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Post Season berth as they sit a game out of 4th place.
Five players recorded double figures, four of which came from the starting lineup. Ahmad Young (Sunnyvale, Calif.) led the scoring effort with 23 points on 10-of-11 shooting. Nick Potthoff (Phoenix, AZ) added 15 points with four rebounds and junior transfer Jude Agbasi (Los Angeles, Calif.) who replaced Shank at the point had a strong night with 13 points, eight boards, three assists and three steals. Kenyatta Louder (Compton, Calif.) played big minutes finishing with 13 points and seven rebounds and Nick Colosi (La Mirada, Calif.) was that spark off the bench playing 23 minutes, while totaling 11 points and nine rebounds.
Whittier was red-hot from the floor shooting 57%, which included a 41.2% clip from behind the arc. They pounded it inside with the 48-24 edge and added 17 points off turnovers.
La Verne jumped out in front early 4-0 but that lead would soon change hands three more times before the Purple & Gold would take complete control. An 8-2 run, which included a Potthoff triple and a JoJo Neal (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) jumper would put WC on top 13-8 and they wouldn't look back as they would string together another 8-2 run minutes later that stretched the advantage to nine.
The deficit moved to double digits at the 6:02 mark following six in a row from the Poets thanks to a pair of free throws from Potthoff and two layups from Agbasi and Young. ULV tried to come back with Jarid Taylor knocking down a three-pointer, but it wasn't enough as Whittier would go on to string together thirteen unanswered before taking a 49-36 lead at the break.
The second half was similar to the first with the Poets putting up over 40 points. La Verne started the frame off with five straight to cut the lead into single digits, but WC was able to weather the storm with seven of their own that made it a 15-point game. Later on a 9-1 run for the Purple & Gold would increase the lead again this time at 65-46 and it would get worse after that for the Leos seeing Nick Manor-Hall (Chino Hills, Calif.) throw down a two-handed jam followed by a pair of three-pointers from Manor-Hall and Young.
Whittier remains on the road this Saturday, February 8 when they travel down to Orange County to take on Chapman University beginning at 2:00pm.
