By Cyanna Rosa

La Verne, CA - The University of La Verne men's basketball team started off the new year at The Tents to face the Claremont-Mudds-Scripps Stags this rainy Wednesday evening. The Leopards stepped into the new year with a new attitude on the sidelines, relaying their adrenaline on the court. The Leopards would have their second at-home attempt at a conference win this evening against the #11 nationally ranked ranked Stags.

The Leopards rotated the bench throughout the first half, highlighting key players Kyler Harvey (11 pts), Saafir Moore (8 pts) and Tyler Brown (8pts). Brown splashed every shot attempt after entering the game with six minutes remaining in the first.

With under four minutes left on the clock, the Leopards encountered a twelve-point deficit until they found their hot streak from way downtown. The Leopards were on fire hitting five back-to-back three-pointers. This foreshadowed their victory, changing the pace of the game going into halftime, 46-51.

To start the second half, Jonas Holt, with 17 points for the game, closed the score gap by one with a 3-point jump shot. The Leopard defense threatened CMS and within sixteen seconds, Tavares James hit five more points to give the Leopards their first lead, 69-65 with 11:34 on the clock.

The Leopards were levied with fouls in the second half, shifting their six-point lead to one point with under five minutes left of the game. But, the Leopards were far from done after two layups by Brian Adams. The Stags had no hope with three minutes left to play catch up, fouling the Leopards every chance they got. The Leopards drained 10 free throws to leave the No. 11 team in the dust, 92-88.

The Leopards look to continue the conference streak against Chapman this Saturday, Jan 7th at 4:00 pm PST, at The Tents.