By Joe Perrino, Sports Information Assistant

WHITTIER — The La Verne Leopards battled until the final buzzer, but came up just short, falling to the Whittier Poets 81-73.

The Leos kept the game close at half, moving into the locker room down by three, 35-32. After the break they came out firing. Seth Shaw and Paul Antonis knocked down threes in two straight possessions to tie the game at 38.

After trading buckets, the Leopards took a lead, 69-66, but Whittier broke away with three minutes remaining and closed out the victory. 

The Leos performance showed overall improvement on the offensive side of the ball. La Verne shot five points higher than their season average with 46% from the field, and nearly 10% higher than average from behind the arc.

Shaw had the best offensive game of his college career. The junior forward scored 28 points on 67% shooting from the field. He added eight rebounds to his stat sheet, four on each glass.

Antonis also posted a strong performance and added yet another double-double to his La Verne career. He finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

The Leopards fall to 2-10 and 0-3 in the SCIAC with the loss. Whittier moves to 6-6 and 1-3.

La Verne will return home to The Tents on Wednesday, Jan. 19 when they host the Redlands Bulldogs at 7 p.m.