A pair of second-half scoring runs by Pomona-Pitzer fueled the visiting Sagehens to a 63-49 win over the University of La Verne in SCIAC action Wednesday night at Frantz Athletic Court.
La Verne was outscored 43-22 by the Hens in the second half to drop its third straight league contest to fall to 12-11 overall and 7-5 in conference play.
Trailing 27-20 at halftime, the Sagehens were down by 10 points at 32-22 with 18 minutes to go before proceeding on a 15-2 spurt to take a 37-34 lead with 12:06 remaining.
Pomona-Pitzer took a seven-point advantage at 49-42 before the Leos cut the deficit to 51-49 on a layup from Sam Adams with 3:51 to play. From there, the Sagehens closed out the contest on a 12-0 run as La Verne went 0-6 from the field in the final three minutes.
La Verne made just 8 of 30 attempts from the field while connecting on 2 of 11 three-point attempts in the final 20 minutes as the Leopards were held below 50 points for the third consecutive game.
John Weiss led Pomona-Pitzer with 12 points while RJ Maki and Xavyr Moss tallied 11 points each.
Austin Napolitano finished one rebound away from a second straight double-double in leading the Leopards in scoring with 12 points to go along with a team-high 9 boards. Jake Veith went 3-3 from three-point range to add 9 points while Alex Wolpe totaled 7 points and 7 rebounds in the defeat.
La Verne stands in a third-place tie in the SCIAC standings with Whittier, who defeated Occidental 57-53 on Wednesday night. The Leopards and Poets meet up in Whittier Saturday at 7:00 pm.
