In its final tune-up before the start of the regular season, the University of La Verne men's basketball team posted a 73-53 triumph over the Afghanistan National Team in exhibition action Saturday evening at Frantz Athletic Court.
The Leopards enjoyed a solid shooting effort on the night, making 50% (27-54) of their field goal attempts while excelling beyond the arc with a 52.9% performance (9-17) from three-point range.
Tied at 14 midway through the first half, La Verne used an 8-0 run capped by a three-pointer from Jourdan Simmonds to take a 22-14 advantage with 8:03 to play. Leading 25-19, the Leos would add a spurt of 10-2 which included a pair of treys from Jake Veith to push the lead to 35-21 with 5:21 remaining en route to a 39-26 halftime cushion.
The Afghan National Team would close to within seven points early in the second half when Haroun Arefi made a layup to narrow the deficit to 39-32 at the 18:04 mark.
But La Verne would counter with a 10-0 run featuring six points from Veith to claim a 49-32 lead. Veith scored the final four points of the run with a free throw followed by a three-point to push the Leopard margin to 17 with 14:17 to play.
The Leopards maintained their double-digit margin the remainder of the game as the visitors would get no closer than 11 points. Weston Newell's free throw in the final seconds provided La Verne with its biggest lead of 20 points as time expired.
The Leopards held Afghanistan to 39.2% shooting and held a 39-28 edge in rebounding in the victory.
Veith finished with a game-high 22 points, connecting on five three-pointers. Simmonds also reached double figures with 11 points. Alex Wolpe and Alonzo Young each added 7 points for the Leopards. Arefi led the Afghanistan National squad with 19 points.
La Verne begins the 2012-13 regular season next week as it travels to Portland, Oregon, to face Willamette University on Friday (Nov. 16) in a 5:00 pm start.
