LOS ANGELES — You have to get back on defense to protect the rim against a fast, athletic team like Whittier.
Yet the Occidental College men's basketball team couldn't get back in transition quick enough, falling 103-76 Saturday night at Rush Gymnasium in a bye-week situation.
The Tigers (6-10, 1-6 SCIAC) hung close with the Poets for the majority of the first half. Oxy even led by seven at one point, shooting almost fifty percent from the field. Then with 2:45 left before halftime, Whittier exploded on a 12-3 run to go up by 13 at the break (53-40), as back-to-back threes by Aaron Fernandez stole the game's momentum. The Poets didn't let up from thereon out.
"It was a tough night," Occidental head coach Brian Newhall said. "But Whittier is a talented team with excellent play at the point, three-point shooters, to go with a good group of athletic rebounders. They are playing their best basketball at the right time."
Kris Montoya (Portland, Ore.) had an aggressive night with 15 of his 25 points coming in the first half alone. The forward shot 9-for-14 from the field, 3-for-4 from long distance, and 8-for-9 from the charity stripe. Juwan Rice (Louisville) was a spark off the bench with eight first half points on a perfect 4-for-4 from the field. Freshman Roy Vlcek (Manhattan) was the most efficient Tiger, scoring eight points in nine minutes. Conrad Liebowitz (Santa Monica) chipped in with eight points and nine rebounds, while Ryan Chong (San Diego) added eight points.
Yet the team's balanced offensive production was marred by 31 turnovers. Even so, Oxy's trouble on the defensive end of the floor hurt them more.
Whittier (8-9, 4-4 SCIAC) threw balloon passes over the Tigers defense, continuing to get out and run for layups on the fastbreak. Phillip Thomas' penetration to the rim was Whittier's catalyst, as he dished out a game-high 12 assists. The Poets also got many of their points on second-chance opportunities, outrebounding Oxy 42-29, giving them 20 second chance points, most of which were layups.
Fernandez scored a game-high 30 points, including seven threes. Chris Barnes-William added 24 points, while Willie Mebane and Tyree Landrum contributed 15 and 14 points respectively.
Oxy will look to bounce back against La Verne on the road Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
"We will finish out the first half of the SCIAC season at La Verne, and then try to play the 'spoiler role' the second half of the season," Newhall said.
Mirin Fader is the Oxy men's basketball beat writer. She also writes feature stories on Oxy athletes, coaches and alums. Mirin's work has appeared in Clippers.com, Dime magazine and WNBA.com (LA Sparks). All of her work, including her archived Oxy stories can be found at her website: mirinfader.com