SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – A barn-burner of a first half tilted all the way toward Whitman College's favor in the second half Saturday afternoon in Kaiser Permanente Arena as the Whitties downed host UC Santa Cruz, 77-63, in non-conference action to open the Banana Slugs' Mission Inn Thanksgiving Classic. Three Whitties reached double digits in scoring led by Tim Howell's 16 points.

The victory extends Whitman's season-opening win streak to three while the loss drops Santa Cruz to 1-4.

A five-point halftime lead, 35-30, ballooned in the opening minutes of the second half with an 8-0 spurt from Whitman after coming out of the break. That 13-point edge grew to as large as 19 points on three occasions in the second half, allowing the Whitties to…uh…cruise home with the victory.

The closing 20 minutes were not indicative of the back-and-forth nature of the game's initial 20 minutes of action which saw eight lead changes. Both teams went on runs to put some space in between the other but both times the margin would disappear.

Tochi Oti opened the scoring with a 3-pointer to give Whitman the initial lead but Santa Cruz scored the next two buckets to seize away the lead at 4-3, which didn't last long thanks to Evan Martin.

The senior forward blocked a shot in Whitman's defensive end, snared the rebound, and then finished the transition up court with a layup to put the Whitties up 5-4. That lead didn't hold up either as a free throw and a 3-pointer from the Slugs wrested back the advantage in favor of the home team.

No lead was safe as Whitman went off on a 9-0 run, started by a Christian McDonald jumper followed by a trey, to seemingly take control at 14-8. Seemingly, because UCSC answered with a 16-6 run to pull in front 24-20 with under five minutes to play in the half.

A layup from Austin Butler would pull Whitman within two, though, and another Martin layup would tie things at 24-24. A Santa Cruz defensive foul sent Philip Chircu to the foul line Whitman's next time down the floor and the senior wing dropped in both attempts to provide the eighth and final lead change of the game.

Whitman historically generates offense from defense and Saturday's contest was no exception as the Whitties scored 30 points off of 22 Santa Cruz turnovers.

Joining Howell in reaching double-figures in scoring were Chircu, with 12 points, and Oti with 11. Chircu and Oti each drained a pair of 3-pointers during the game and both Howell and Chircu were a perfect 4-for-4 from the foul line. For the game Whitman made 18-of-30 (60 percent) from the foul line, including a 70-percent (14-of-20) second half.

Martin pulled down a team-best six rebounds for Whitman while adding six points, two steals and three blocks, and Butler continues to be a spark in his first season with the Whitties, scoring four points but dishing out four assists without a turnover.

Santa Cruz was led by Jared Ponce's 16 points and eight rebounds. Two other Banana Slugs cracked double digits in the loss.

Whitman's Thanksgiving Classic stay continues Saturday with a non-conference match-up against Cal Lutheran University at 1 p.m. in Santa Cruz's West Field House.