Leopards Hand Poets Their Second Straight SCIAC Loss

Travis Crow '09 was the only Poet in double figures as Whittier College dropped its second straight conference game, this one an 82-57 loss to the University of La Verne in La Verne, Calif., on January 19.  The Poets are now 8-6 overall and 1-2 in SCIAC play.

Offense was scarce for the Poets, as they shot just 30% from the field in the game.  Urriahn Barrigan '09 and Marcus Gibson '09 each hit a pair of three-pointers and finished with eight points each.  The Poets went just 5-for-24 from beyond the arc.  Bill Ritter '08 also scored eight points in 14 minutes of action off the bench.  Jeff McLean '09 scored seven points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Vernon Covington '08 pulled down a game-high nine rebounds for the Poets.

The Poets were behind by seven at the break and could never recover.  La Verne pulled away with eight three-pointers in the second half.

La Verne (7-7, 1-2) was on fire from the field throughout the game.  They shot nearly 57% from the field and 58% from beyond the arc.  The Leopards had three players with double digits in the scoring column.  Billy Nicolini led all scorers with 19 points, including five three-pointers.  Kyle Luhnow scored 18 points to go along with seven rebounds.  Juan Canas went five-for-six from the field and finished with 12 points.

The Poets continue SCIAC play on January 23 when they travel to the University of Redlands for a 7:30pm game.