Men's Basketball Finishes Season on a Winning Note

Whittier College men's basketball wrapped up their 2007-08 campaign with a 72-60 win over Caltech in Pasadena, Calif., on February 26.  The Poets finish the season 14-11 overall, their best record in five years.  They just missed a spot in the inaugural SCIAC tournament with a 7-7 conference record putting them in fifth place.

Jeff McLean '09 and Mike "Plain Yogurt" Archuletta '09 finished with 14 points apiece.  McLean also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and went 10-for-14 from the free throw line.  Archuletta pulled down six rebounds.  Travis Crow '09 finished with 12 points, six rebounds and a game-high three steals.  Bill Ritter '08 also scored 12 points in his final game in a Poets uniform.

Caltech was led by Travis Haussler with 16 points, ten rebounds and three assists.  Matthew Dellatorre hit four three-pointers and finished with a game-high 20 points.  Bryan Hires finished with 13 points and seven boards.

The Poets led by as many as seven in the first half, but the Beavers fought back to tie the score at 22 at halftime.  After the break, Caltech took its first lead of the game on a Dellatorre three-pointer.  But the lead was short-lived as Archuletta came back with a pair of buckets in the next forty seconds to tie the game.  The Poets gained the lead, but didn't put game away until the five-minute mark with a 6-0 run that increased their lead to twelve (58-46).  The Beavers cut the lead to seven with a minute left, but the Poets made five of their last seven free throws to seal the victory.  The Poets made 22 free throws in the second half.