For more than 37 minutes of Wednesday’s nonconference clash with visiting Southwestern of Chula Vista, the Pirates were still searching for both a sustainable lead and a hero. On this night, they both arrived in the person of Martin Whitmore.
The freshman from Artesia High scored every point in an 8-0 OCC run over 82 seconds that helped turn a 62-62 deadlock into an eventual 72-62 triumph.
Whitmore, who tops a list of eight Pirates averaging between 5.2 and 12.3 points over the team’s first 10 games, sank two free throws with 2:14 left to give OCC (4-6) the lead for good. Fouled again while driving to the basket, Whitmore converted two more from the foul line with 1:48 left, then banked in a six-foot runner with 1:13 ticks remaining to all but clinch the win. He added two more free throws 21 seconds later to complete a 16-point performance that paced four Pirates in double figures.
“He has been our leading scorer,” Spencer said of Whitmore, who added five rebounds and a team-leading three steals in 22 minutes. “He’s multi-dimensional. He can shoot the three-pointer, he has a mid-range game, and he can drive. Tonight, the big thing was, he made his free throws [10 of 12].”
Whitmore’s timely emergence helped make a game that was seemingly played uphill, a positive that OCC hopes to build upon. Southwestern shot 52.2% from the field and had a 35-30 rebounding edge. But OCC won the turnover battle, 20-13, and had seven three-pointers to the Apaches’ two.
OCC led just once, 10-8, in the first half and its second lead — 57-56 with 4:49 left in the game — lasted just one second, as a foul after a missed free throw allowed the Apaches (3-8) to make two free throws at the other end.
