LAS VEGAS, NV. (Dec. 29th, 2023)- The Purple and Gold continued their second day of action at the D3Hoops.com Invitational, hosted at the South Point Arena miles away from the Las Vegas Strip. In this second matchup the men took on a very strong Husson University Eagles team. Led by Amari Smith and Morgan Cox the Poets pushed the Eagles, but eventually Husson was able to pull away in the second half. 

Husson was able to get off to a fast start and was shooting the ball very well; at one point leading the Poets 20-13. However, the men were not going to just give this game over to their opponent and were ready to battle against this strong team. With about 9 minutes left in this first half, Whittier went on an 8-0 run and took a 2 point lead over the Husson. The two teams continued to battle for the remainder of the half, with just under 4 minutes remaining the squads were tied. Then Cox and Smith turned it up in this final stretch and put the rest of the Poets on their back. Cox scored 7 points in these final minutes, while Smith poured in 6 of his own to take the teams into the half with a 46-36 lead. 

As the second half began, Whittier was looking to hold onto this 10 point lead. The men quickly extended this lead up to 14, but then the Eagles began to fight back. Husson was able to tie this game up with 12 minutes remaining and from that point they did not look back. The Eagles extended their lead and were not going to give it back up. Whittier unfortunately was not able to make a final push and lost this game by a final score of 85-71. 

Although Whittier dropped this game there were some highlights. Smith continued his impressive season scoring 21 points to go along with his 3 steals; he was also named to the All-Tournament Team. Cox on the other hand had a breakout performance; he had season highs in points, rebounds, blocks, and minutes played. The junior forward finished with 16 points, 8 rebounds, a block, and a steal in 22 minutes. The Poets will now return home to take on the University of La Verne on January 3rd. This SCIAC showdown will take place at 7:00 in the Graham Athletics Center at Whittier. 

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