Poets fall on the road to Claremont-M-S

Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Whittier College men's basketball team never led on Saturday evening as Claremont-M-S jumped out to a 16-point halftime lead and held on for the 81-68 win in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action.

The Poets (7-8, 1-4 SCIAC) had four players reach double figures led by Damon Perry and Jason O'Brien who scored a team-high 13 points.

Karlo Galvez scored 12 points off the bench and Josh Deanne chipped in with 11 points.

Whittier's leading scorer, Drew Menez, was held a season-low six points in 27 minutes of action.

The purple and gold shot an impressive 50 percent from the field but it was the Stags (13-3, 5-0 SCIAC) who were slightly better with a 54 percent effort.

WC and CMS were even on the boards as the Stags held a 30-28 advantage.

Perry and Deanne each had a team-high six rebounds.

The Poets return to action on Wednesday, January 27, as they travel to Thousand Oaks to face Cal Lutheran in SCIAC action.