A festive crowd on Senior Night witnessed a memorable comeback by the University of La Verne as they rallied from a deficit as large as 18 points and a 13-point second half margin to top visiting Cal Lutheran University 85-81 in SCIAC men's basketball action Saturday evening at Frantz Athletic Court.
La Verne never led until the final minute of the game but outscored Cal Lutheran 27-10 over the final seven minutes to improve to 10-14 overall and 8-7 in conference play. CLU dropped to 10-14 and 6-9, respectively.
Ironically on Senior Night, it was a sophomore who played the biggest role for the Leos down the stretch.
The Leopards were down 28-10 to the Kingsmen midway through the first half and would later trail 71-58 with 6:49 left to play in the game before proceeding on a 21-8 run culminating in a three-point basket by Jordan Simmounds to knot the game at 79 with 1:26 left.
For an encore, Simmonds buried a three with 32 seconds remaining to give the Leos their first lead of the game at 82-79. After Kingsmen forward Martin Flowers scored on a layup with 19 seconds left to get CLU within a point, Simmonds was fouled and calmly sank both free throws with 16 seconds to take an 84-81 lead. The Kingsmen attempted a game-tying three, but Corey Quintana's shot behind the arc was unsuccessful, and Simmonds corralled the rebound and promptly hit one of two free throws to close out the game.
Simmonds scored the Leopards' final nine points to finish with 17 on the evening.
The ending was reminiscent of the first meeting between the squads when La Verne reeled off seven unanswered points to defeat the Kingsmen 52-51 in Thousand Oaks back on January 12.
The win gave the Leopards their fifth win in the last six meetings over Cal Lutheran. Additionally, the Leos have won nine of their 12 games since the New Year.
The Kingsmen led 43-36 at the half and enjoyed a double-digit through much of the second half before the Leopards mounted its comeback in the final minutes.
Cal Lutheran shot 59.2% from the floor, compared to La Verne's 52.6%, but the Leopards connected on 66.7% (10-15) of their three-point field goals and held a 33-23 edge in rebounding.
Jake Vieth again continued his outstanding season by registering a game-high 19 points, four rebounds and three steals. Fellow senior Vince Bauer recorded 14 points with freshman Weston Newell adding nine points.
For the Kingsmen, five players reached double figures in scoring led by Dan Wade and Michael Palmer with 18 points each.
Prior to the game, the senior trio of Vieth, Bauer and Alex Wolpe were honored as part of the Senior Night festivities.
La Verne closes out the regular season with a trip to Pasadena as it battles Caltech Tuesday night in a 7:30 pm start.
