Alex Wolpe's layup with one second remaining helped lift the University of La Verne to a 66-64 victory over Occidental College in SCIAC men's basketball action Wednesday at Rush Gymnasium in Eagle Rock.
As a result, La Verne (9-14, 7-7) posted a season sweep of Occidental to remain alive for a berth in the SCIAC Postseason Tournament with two games remaining in the regular season. Since a 1-11 record to begin the season, the Leopards have won eight of their 11 contests. The Tigers dropped to 7-17 and 2-13, respectively.
La Verne led by three before Oxy's Sam Stapleton buried a three-pointer to knot the game at 64 with 1:56 remaining. The Leopards would eventually have the final say on an inbounds play with just under two seconds left, when Jake Vieth fed Wolpe in the lane to connect on the buzzer-beater for the win.
Led by the play of Kris Montoya, Occidental surged late in the first half by outscoring the Leopards 12-4 over the final 5:57 to grab a 38-31 lead at the break. The Tigers were bolstered by making five of their nine three-point attempts (55.6%) over the first 20 minutes.
The Leos overcame a 10-point deficit early in the second half. A layup from Conrad Leibowitz gave Occidental its largest lead of the game at 43-33 with 18:26 remaining. La Verne responded with a 19-9 run capped by a pair of Niall Harrison free throws to knot the game at 52 with 9:34 left to play.
A jam by Wolpe with 7:37 remaining put the Leos up 59-55. Stapleton hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to one at 59-58, but Alonzo Young answered with a dunk on the ensuing possession to push the Leopard lead to 61-58.
A free throw from Montoya along with a jumper from Liebowitz tied the game at 61, but Vieth connected on a trey to allow the Leos to reclaim the lead at 64-61 with 5:13 left to play. The two teams would go scoreless for more than three minutes without a score until Stapleton's game-tying triple prior to Wolpe's game winner.
The Leopards were aided by a strong performance from the free throw line as they connected on 13 of their 15 free throw attempts (86.7%). The Leos also finished with a 37-29 edge in rebounding.
Vieth continued his outstanding season with a team-high 19 points, finishing 5-8 from three-point range. Wolpe posted a double-double of 18 points and a game-high 11 rebounds on the night, going 8-13 from the field. Ronn See added 10 points.
Montoya paced the Tigers with a game-high 20 points while Stapleton posted 12 points and a game-high eight assists in the loss.
La Verne continues league action on Saturday when it faces Cal Lutheran at Frantz Athletic Court on Senior Night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
