Photo: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. (Nov. 16, 2021) – The Whittier College men's basketball team needed and received contributions from up and down the lineup to hold off a game Bethesda University team on Tuesday evening. The 99-97 win moves the Poets to 2-0 to begin the 2021-22 season.

Both teams came out aggressively with the ball in their hands with both sides hitting a combined 40 points before even the first seven minutes of the game could elapse. The duo of senior point guard Journey Shank (Burbank, Calif. / Crescenta Valley) and junior wing Jordan Kanoe (San Antonio, Texas / Santa Monica College) dominated early, combining for 23 of the Poets' 53 first-half points on perfect shooting from inside the three-point line. Additionally, three other Poets managed to finish the half with seven points to their name, but the visiting Flames could not be shaken. In fact, despite the Poets hitting 15 first-half free throws, they ended up taking a six-point lead into the break.

Over the final 20 minutes, senior guards Ahmad Young (Sunnyvale, Calif. / De Anza College) and Nick Colosi (La Mirada, Calif. / La Mirada) stepped up, giving the home team an abundance of quantity and quality of time on the floor. The Poets once again started the half hot, with Shank assisting on each of their first three baskets, including a Colosi layup in transition and a Young trey. Still, the Flames continued to find answers to the Poets' avalanche of offense and threatened multiple times over the final frame with both teams in a proverbial tug of war over the lead. However, Whittier put its late-game toughness on full display over the final minute where they would have to one more time take control back from the Flames, who took a 96-95 lead into the final minute of play. They managed to accomplish just that, taking the lead for the final time on an open layup from junior guard Bryant Howing (Hacienda Heights, Calif. / Rio Hondo College). A timely timeout afforded the Flames an opportunity to set up a play, but the Poets snuffed it out, leading to a Colosi defensive rebound that ultimately sent the senior to the charity stripe with an opportunity to run his team's lead to three points. The senior converted both free throws, but a shooting foul from the perimeter with nine-tenths of a second remaining sent the Flames to the line with an opportunity to force overtime with the conversion of three free throws.

Upon Bethesda converting on their first of three free throw opportunities, Head Coach Mark Jensen opted to use his team's final timeout in an attempt to ice the shooter. The idea paid off, as the Flames missed their second free throw, forcing them to put the ball in play in a last-ditch effort to tie the game that would ultimately fall short. Colosi and Young co-led the Whittier offense with 18 points apiece. Additionally, the former led all Whittier starters with six rebounds while the latter picked up four assists. Collectively, the Poets made 25 free throws on 33 attempts, their most amount of makes since a 2018 meeting with Occidental College when they went 26-for-33 at the line.

Jensen and the Poets will look to tighten things up and make it three consecutive wins to kick off the 2021-22 season when they host Colorado College on Friday, Nov. 19 in their first meeting with an NCAA team.

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