ORANGE, Calif. (Feb. 10, 2024) –
Kunal Bagga (Anaheim, Calif. / Servite) of the Whittier College men's basketball team featured in a second half in which the Poets outscored host Chapman University in Saturday afternoon's SCIAC game.
Bagga scored 12 of his 17 points over the final 20 minutes of Saturday's game as the Poets looked to make it consecutive SCIAC wins for the first time this year. The men entered the game coming off one of their best performances of the season at the University of La Verne, and followed things up by giving a good account of themselves at Chapman. Whittier made up for a deficit on the glass by forcing Chapman into 16 team turnovers, resulting in 17 points, eight of which came on the fast break. Because of this, combined with the Panthers converting on just one three-pointer in the second half, Whittier outscored Chapman, 38-37, over the final 20 minutes.
Meanwhlie, junior guard
Aamari Smith (Decatur, Ga. / San Bernardino Valley) showed once again why he is one of the SCIAC's top players -- period. The junior maintained his conference-leading scoring pace with 20 points on 7-of-17 shooting. Perhaps more importantly, Smith led the charge on the turnover front, forcing the Panthers into coughing the ball up six times himself, while accounting for six of Whittier's 10 team steals on the afternoon. He also chipped in with a team-best three assists over the course of Saturday's fast-paced affair.
Whittier opened the second half on a 19-12 run that helped cut the Chapman lead down to just four points. After Chapman slowly but surely built their lead back, the Poets came back with another run of their own, but ultimately ran out of time as Chapman padded the lead with free throw down the stretch of an otherwise competitive game. Junior forward
Tanner Thompson (Seattle, Wash. / North Creek) stood out as another top contributor for the Poets, picking up nine rebounds, six of which came on the offensive glass. Meanwhile, the Poets converted on all 14 of their team free throws for the game with five different players contributing from the free throw line.
Head Coach Mark Jensen and the Poets will continue their recent road swing when they travel to California Lutheran University to rematch the Kingsmen on Valentine's Day.
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