The University of La Verne pushed Marietta College to the brink of its first defeat, but a Trevor Halter three-pointer with 0.4 seconds remaining lifted the Pioneers to a 68-66 triumph over the Leopards in men's basketball action Thursday night at Frantz Athletic Court.
With the win, the Pioneers remained unbeaten at 12-0 while the Leopards fall to 5-5.
La Verne trailed 65-62 with 2:22 left to play, but pulled to within a point on an Austin Napolitano layup and pulled ahead on a Sam Adams jumper to lead 66-65 with 1:03 to play. The Leopards held Marietta without a score on the ensuing possession and had a chance to add to their lead in the final seconds.
The Leopards failed to score with 12 seconds left, giving the Pioneers possession. Halter would nail a 22-footer that enabled Marietta to escape with its perfect record intact.
The evenly-played contest produced a total of 13 ties throughout with no team leading by more than four points. Marietta shot 45.6% from the field (26-57) compared to 44.9% (22-49) for La Verne. The Leos made 81.8% (18-22) of their free throws while the Pioneers connected on 11 of 15 shots (73.3%) from the charity stripe.
Halter led all scorers with 20 points on 7-9 shooting from the field. La Verne had four players reach double figures led by Trevor Woodland with 14 points followed by Napolitano (13), Adams (12) and John Leggett (11).
The Leopards will play their first game of 2011 on Monday, January 3, when it hosts Concordia University (WI) at 7:30 pm.
