Though there are no moral victories for the University of La Verne, the squad admirably battled one of the top teams in Division III to a near standoff before dropping a 77-74 decision to visiting MIT in men's basketball action Monday afternoon at Frantz Athletic Court.
La Verne (1-10) rallied from a 10-point deficit with 3:21 to get within three points on a Brett Stephan three-pointer with 10 seconds remaining. The Leopards looked to send the game into overtime, but a three-point attempt from Jake Vieth did not connect as the Engineers escaped with the victory.
"We're not happy about our record, but I'm truly proud of our players with their effort tonight and their commitment and focus," said Leopard head coach Rich Reed. "We never quit when they made several runs and we scratched and clawed for 40 minutes."
In the first half, MIT led by seven at 15-8, but the Leopards came back with six straight, including five in a row from Vieth, whose three-pointer cut the Engineer's lead to 15-14. MIT answered with a 10-0 run to take a 25-14 lead midway through the half. The Engineers took a 45-36 lead into the locker room.
MIT, ranked No. 1 in this season's D3hoops.com Top 25 Preseason Poll, grabbed a 57-45 advantage on a Justin Pedley three-pointer with 13:29 remaining. The Leos responded and would later go on a 10-0 run to take a 64-62 lead, culminating on a pair of free throws from Vieth. The spurt was highlighted by a pair of Jourdan Simmonds treys.
The Engineers (9-2) countered with a 13-1 run, including a spurt of 11 unanswered points, to go up 75-65. La Verne however would not go quietly, scoring on two layups from Vieth and one from Alex Wolpe to close the gap to four at 75-71. After Mitchell Kates scored on a breakaway layup for MIT, Stephan cut the lead to three with his trey.
MIT enjoyed balanced scoring with five players reaching double figures, led by Matt Redfield with 19 points. James Burke added 18 points, finishing 4-of-9 from three-point range.
Vieth totaled a game-high 25 points and made 8 of his 11 free throws. Simmonds connected on four three-pointers on his way to 16 points while Wolpe missed out on a double-double by one rebound with 14 points and 9 boards.
The Leopards return to SCIAC action on Saturday when they play host to Chapman in a 7:00 pm tip-off at Frantz Athletic Court.
