Box Score CLAREMONT, CA. – Senior Micah Elan led the way with 33 points as the Pomona-Pitzer Men's Basketball team defeated Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) opponent Whittier 97-75 on Wednesday night at the Graham Athletic Center.
The Sagehens move to 19-5 on the year with the win and 12-3 in SCIAC play.
The Sagehens were led by Elan who dropped 33 points off of a 10-15 shooting display including 9-13 from three. Elan also added eight rebounds to his night while teammate senior Adam Rees had 15 points, junior Alex Preston with 12 and sophomore Matthew Eberle came off of the bench with 16 points in the win.
The Sagehens had a great night shooting the basketball at 58.1% and were on fire from three at 51.5% clipping on 17-33 shots from beyond the arc. Whittier outrebounded the Sagehens at 34-32 while both teams were close in points in the paint with the Sagehens at 28 and the Poets at 22.
Pomona-Pitzer got out to a good start on offense in a game in which they never trailed. The Sagehens started out with a 13-6 lead after a Preston layup and extended that lead to 22-7 with just under 13 minutes left to play in the first half to force Whittier to burn a timeout.
The Poets battled back to cut the lead to within eight points at 28-20, but the Sagehens went off on another big run and outscored Whittier 14-0 in the next few minutes to push the lead to 42-20 with five minutes left in the first half.
The Sagehens put on an absolute shooting clinic in the first half with 61.8% from the floor and 53.8% from three as Elan and Rees led the Sagehens at the half with 12 points each with a 53-32 lead.
The Sagehens eased off of the gas in the second half as they outscored Whittier by just one point at 44-43, however, Elan exploded on offense in the second half with 21 points hitting on six of his eight shots.
Pomona-Pitzer maintained its lead over Whittier for the majority of the second half but the Poets began to chip away at the lead and cut the deficit down to 70-57 with 10:11 left to play. The Sagehens regrouped and sparked a 15-3 run capped off by an Eberle three to take an 85-60 lead with 6:34 to go.
Pomona-Pitzer was able to ride its big first half to a 97-75 win over Whittier and secured a home first round game in the opening round of the SCIAC Tournament.
The Sagehens will next host SCIAC opponent Occidental on Saturday, February 22nd at 5:00 p.m.
