WHITTIER -- Turnovers are fuel for a fast, athletic team like Whittier, who prides itself on speeding other teams up.

On the road in their first of three games in six days, the Occidental men's basketball team was plagued by 29 turnovers, to which the Poets converted into easy layups in transition. Despite 19 points from both Ryan Chong (San Diego) and Kris Montoya (Portland, Ore.) the Tigers fell 96-74 Monday night.

A three by Aaron Fernandez with 13:12 left changed the momentum of the game, putting Whittier up by seven after Oxy had hung close for the majority of the first half. Whittier then went on an 8-2 run and controlled the tempo from thereon out.

It would be Fernandez again with another three to put Whittier up by 15 points (81-66) with 6:39 remaining, preventing any possibility of a late Oxy comeback.

The Tigers (2-12 SCIAC, 7-16 overall) did, however, rebound well, especially on the offensive end, which gave them more opportunities to score early on. By halftime, the team collected 12 offensive boards. Freshman David Yetenikyan (Glendale) was at the forefront of the effort, as eight of his 12 boards were offensive. He gave the Tigers size inside down the stretch, and completed a double-double posting 13 points.

Still, the 15 first half turnovers were too much to recover from, as Whittier (7-4 SCIAC, 12-11 overall) players got out in the open floor, including Tyree Landrum, who scored 12 of his 20 points in the opening period.

"We played another solid first half, but Whittier really took off after that," Occidental head coach Brian Newhall said. "Our guys continue to compete hard and stay together."

The Poets were led by a game-high 27 points from Chris Barnes-William, and 19 points from Willie Mebane. Fernandez finished with 16 points.

Oxy will play La Verne at Rush Gymnasium in the last week of regular season play on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

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