Bolstered by a career scoring effort from senior guard Jake Vieth, the University of La Verne surged past Whittier College in a 77-69 final in SCIAC men's basketball action Wednesday night at Frantz Athletic Court.

Vieth poured in a career high 33 points to propel the Leopards over the Poets to improve to 6-6 in conference play.  The win - coupled with Pomona-Pitzer's triumph over Chapman - moved La Verne into a three-way tie for fourth place in the league standings.

La Verne trailed 40-37 at the half outscored the Poets 40-29 in the final 20 minutes of action. With Whittier up 59-57, Vieth buried a three-pointer to put the Leos ahead to stay at 60-59 with 9:39 remaining. Vieth would connect on another trey to give La Verne a 69-63 cushion with 5:53 remaining.  A layup from Alex Wolpe maintained a six-point Leopard lead (71-65) with 2:33 left to play.

The Poets (10-11, 6-6) pulled within two points on a pair of field goals before Vieth scored on a layup to push the lead to 73-69 with under a minute left.  Whittier failed to convert on a one-on-one on its ensuing possession as Wolpe corraled the rebound and promptly made two free throws with 28 seconds left to help seal the win.  Ronn See would add a pair of free throws to close out the scoring.

Vieth finished 11-18 from the field and went 6-of-9 from three-point range while also connecting on all five of his free throw attempts.

The Leopards shot 41.9% (26-62) and made 64.3% (18-28) of their free throw attempts.

Wolpe recorded a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds while See added 7 points and 6 rebounds. 

Whittier was paced by Chris Barnes-Williams, who tallied 25 points on 10-16 shooting from the field. Dylan Irwin added 15 points for the Poets

The Leopards return to action on Saturday as it takes on Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on the road in a 7:00 pm start.