The University of La Verne men's basketball squad fell short in its quest to post a road win by falling to SCIAC leader University of Redlands by a 67-51 verdict in conference action Wednesday night at Currier Gymnasium.
The Leopards never led in the contest and trailed by eight points at halftime. In the second half, the Leos would continue to battle but were unable to get any closer than six points as the Bulldogs stretched their lead in the latter stages on their way to the win. Redlands improved to 14-5 overall and 9-1 in conference play while the Leopards dropped to 6-13 and 4-6, respectively.
La Verne shot just 21.2% (7-33) from the field in the first half as they went to the break down 31-23. The Bulldogs raced out to an early 8-2 lead before the Leos closed it to a point on a jumper from Paul Titchener to close the gap to 10-9 with 12:02 remaining in the opening stanza. Redlands led 21-19 before embarking on a 10-2 run to grab a 31-21 lead before settling for an eight-point cushion at the half.
Redlands quickly resumed control early in the second half and built a 44-30 lead on a jumper from Eric Radford at 14:21. La Verne would respond with a 10-2 run of its own to get back into the contest. Vince Bauer hit a layup to move the Leos back to single digits at 46-38. On their next offensive possession, Bauer connected on a pair of free throws to narrow the deficit to six at 46-40 with 10:03 to play.
The Bulldogs later pushed the lead back to 10 points on a pair of free throws from Tristian Kirk to give Redlands a 50-40 cushion with 9:30 left in regulation. La Verne twice got to within eight points, the last coming on a layup and free throw from Alonzo Young at 6:34 to slice the lead to 53-45.
Redlands however boosted their margin back to double-digits where it remained over the final five minutes of action as the Leopards were held without a field goal during the last 3:58. The Bulldogs were aided by an 18-20 (90%) performance from the free throw line.
Four Bulldog players reached double figures led by Radford with 16 points and Josiah Brensdal with 15. Matt Calhoun posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Jake Vieth led La Verne with 18 points followed by Bauer with 10. Ronn See collected a game-high 11 rebounds in the defeat.
La Verne continues action on the road as it travels to Orange to take on Chapman University in a 7:00 pm start.
