SANTA CRUZ, CA -- UC Santa Cruz started their second tournament of the season Friday as they took fellow NCAA Division III member Whittier College. The Poets rode six first half three pointers to a wire-to-wire 71-58 win over UC Santa Cruz. 

Both teams were coming off victories in their last contest. The Banana Slugs were coming off a 57-55 overtime win over the University of Redlands last Monday in Santa Cruz and the Poets were coming off a 105-55 rout of West Coast Baptist College in Whittier on Tuesday.

Whittier would score the first nine points of the game and would gain their first double digit lead of the game at 12-2 on a Louis Kurihara three pointer with 15:03 left in the half. The Slugs would start chipping away at the Poets' lead and would come as close as nine, at 21-12, on a Jared Ponce three pointer with 8:51 left in the half. The Poets would extend their lead to eighteen, their largest lead of the game, at 42-24, on a Jacob Contreras three pointer with 1:11 left in the half. The Poets would lead 43-26 at the halftime intermission. 

In the second half, the Poets would hold their lead in double digits throughout the entirety of the half. The Banana Slugs would come as close as eleven, at 60-49, with 7:30 left after a Jared Ponce three point play. The Poets would win the game 71-58. 

Jared Ponce had a game high seventeen points for the Banana Slugs. Andrew Torres had sixteen points for the Poets. James Townsend had nine points for the Banana Slugs in the loss. Eric Jennings had thirteen points and Nick Demusis and Ben Maynard, off the bench, had twelve points apiece for Whittier. 

The Banana Slugs shot 36.5% (23-63) from the field, 25% (5-20) from the three point line and was 77.8% (7-9) from the free throw line. The Poets shot 48.1% (25-52) from the field, 38.5% (10-26) from the three point line and 57.9% (11-19) from the foul line. UC Santa Cruz's defense forced twelve Poet turnovers scoring ten points off the turnovers while the Poets' defense forced sixteen turnovers by UC Santa Cruz scoring nineteen points off the turnovers. UC Santa Cruz outrebounded Whittier 38-33 but the Poets had six fewer fouls (21-15) than did the Banana Slugs.