A late push by the University of La Verne went for naught as Whittier College connected on a game-winning field goal in the final minute to squeak past the Leopards 53-52 in the SCIAC men's basketball opener for both teams Saturday night at Frantz Athletic Court.
Whittier's Paul Davis hit a driving layup with 31 seconds to put the visitors up by a point. The Leos had one last possession to win, but a fadeaway jumper from Trevor Woodland was off the mark as time expired.
The Poet win overshadowed a spirited La Verne comeback in the final minutes. The Leos trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half and were down by 10 points with 5:18 remaining. From there, the Leopards went on a 13-2 run, culminating in a jumper from Woodland with 1:53 left to lead 52-51.
Both teams traded possessions without a score, setting up the Poets' go-ahead score in the final minute.
Whittier nearly led wire-to-wire, only trailing for 1:22 the entire game. The Poets opened the game with a 10-4 lead only to watch the Leopards reel off six straight points to tie the contest at 10-10. Whittier (6-6, 1-0 SCIAC) responded with its own 6-0 run, but the Leopards would once again knot the contest at 24-24 with 3:07 left before intermission. Leading by one, the Poets received a last-second three-pointer from Ricky Kamayatsu to take a 29-25 lead into the break.
In the second half, the Poets started out strong and seized their largest lead on a Nathan Easterman jumper to grab a 42-31 advantage with 11:58 left to play.
Down 49-39, the Leopards began their comeback with a three-pointer from Jeremy Lay followed by a pair of free throws from Austin Napolitano. A Napolitano jumper with 2:35 remaining pulled the Leos within a point at 51-50 before Woodland's field goal less than a minute later gave La Verne its first and only lead of the game.
The contest was an intense battle which resulted in both teams shooting under 40% from the field. The Poets hit 34.4% (21-61) of their field goals while the Leopards hit 38.3% (18-47) of their shots.
La Verne (5-7, 0-1 SCIAC) outrebounded the Poets 39-35 and made twice as many free throws as Whittier, but committed 20 turnovers in the defeat.
Whittier's Greg Preer led all scorers with 25 points on 10-22 shooting. Napolitano led La Verne with 17 points while Jonathan Bastos added 11 points and 6 rebounds.Woodland, La Verne's leading scorer, was held to 6 points on the night.