The University of La Verne men's basketball team opened its 2012-13 season on a winning note as it secured a 56-52 triumph over Willamette University Friday in Portland, Oregon.

Deadlocked at 22 in the first half, La Verne used an 11-2 run early in the second half to take a 38-27 lead on a three-pointer from Jourdan Simmonds with 15:27 left to play.  The Bearcats cut the margin to six at 38-32 before the Leopards reeled off the next six points, capped by a layup from Eric Becker to go up 44-32.

Again Willamette sliced the deficit to six points only to watch the Leopards built the cushion back to 12.  Leading 46-40, La Verne received consecutive three-pointers from Simmonds to take a 52-40 advantage with 5:16 remaining.

The Bearcats sliced the deficit to five at 52-47, but baskets from Alex Wolpe and Vince Bauer in the late stages helped propel the Leopards to victory in the season opener.

The Leopards prevailed despite being out-rebounded 40-25.  La Verne enjoyed a strong effort from three-point range, finishing 8-15 (53%) beyond the arc, including a 6-8 effort in the second half. 

Simmonds paced La Verne with a career-high 24 points with Wolpe adding 10 points.  Sean Dart and Kyle McNally each tallied 10 points to lead the Bearcats.

La Verne wraps up its Oregon trip on Saturday as it takes on Pacific in a 7:30 pm start.