WHITTIER, Calif. - After spotting the home squad 14 points Cal Lutheran never pulled within single digits in dropping a 78-59 result to Whittier on Wednesday evening. The Kingsmen offense was held to just 32 percent shooting from the field while the Poets were the first SCIAC team to score 70-plus points against CLU.

Box Score: WC 78, CLU 59 - F

After scoring a season-low 44 points in last Saturday's home loss Cal Lutheran did not score a point until the 15:13 mark of the first half. Up to that point the Kingsmen were 0-for-3 from the field with three turnovers while the Poets went 6-for-7 including a pair of three pointers and only one turnover.

CLU trailed by as many as 20 in the first half but used a 16-for-22 performance at the free throw line to climb back to within 11 points just before intermission. However that would be as close as the visiting side would reach and Whittier led by 20 or more throughout a majority of the final 10 minutes.

The Poets had a balanced offensive scoring attack with Paul Davis scoring 12 points off the bench to lead the home squad. Damon Perry and Ricky Kamayatsu both went 4-for-6 from the floor and combined for 21 points.

Whittier's starting five combined for 16 of the team's 20 assists including six from Willie Mebane and another five from Greg Preer. Both contributed seven points apiece in the victory.

Greg Grimm led CLU with half of his 20 points coming at the free throw line. Collin Knudsen scored all eight of his points in just nine first half minutes to lead the bench.

Cal Lutheran (8-9, 2-4 SCIAC) will host Occidental (8-9, 2-4 SCIAC) on Saturday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m.