A late rally by visiting West Coast Baptist College helped upend the University of La Verne as the Eagles topped the Leopards 63-62 in men's basketball action Saturday evening at Frantz Athletic Court.
Akeem Smith's jumper with 5.9 seconds left put the Eagles up by a point, and held off the Leopards' last-second shot attempt as a John Leggett jumper with one second remaining bounced off the rim.
La Verne held a 55-48 advantage with 5:59 remaining, but watched the Eagles score seven unanswered points to forge a 55-55 tie. The Eagles would eventually take a 61-58 lead on a Carlos Johnson field goal with 1:33 remaining.
The Leopards would cut the deficit to one on a basket from Alex Wolpe with 53 seconds left, held the Eagles scoreless on the ensuing possession, and followed with a Leggett layup with 16 seconds left to play.
Smith's final basket was his 20th point of the game to earn team-high honors.
The win avenged an earlier defeat to the Leopards this season as La Verne enjoyed an 87-75 victory over the Eagles on November 29 in Lancaster.
The Leopards (3-3) led 30-24 at halftime and opened a double-digit lead in the first three minutes after intermission. A basket and free throw from Austin Napolitano at the 15:01 mark staked the Leopards to their largest lead of the game at 46-33.
West Coast Baptist answered with a 15-3 run in a six-minute span to get to within a point at 49-48 with nine minutes left to play. The Eagles were aided by a 15-27 effort from the field (55.7%) in the final 20 minutes of the game. Moreover, the squad held the Leos to 1-8 shooting from three-point range in the second half.
The Leopards out-rebounded the Eagles 38-29 but committed 17 turnovers for the game.
Napolitano was a bright spot for the Leopards in the defeat, collecting a game-high 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Trevor Woodland added 9 points followed by Alex Wolpe with 8 points. Wolpe and Leggett led the team in rebounding with 7 boards each.
The Leopards will travel to San Diego on Monday to face Division I University of San Diego at 7:00 pm. The contest marks the Leopards' final road game of the 2010 calendar year.
