by Echelle Avelar
News Editor
Whipping out a close first half is nothing new to the University of La Verne’s men’s basketball team, but finishing it up is what seems to be the hard part.
The Leopards hosted Redlands University Wednesday night and in a close, but no cigar game with Redlands triumphing, 85-82.
It seemed that a win over the Bulldogs would end a six game losing streak the Leopards have had since their last match up against Redlands.
The game began with a quick shot and a 2-0 lead from Redlands, but senior forward Scott Fitzgerald soon gave La Verne the 2-2 tie.
A baseline jumper from junior guard Paul Celaya kicked the Leopards up to 4-2. Redlands evened it out at 4-4 and with that, both teams began to pick up the pace.
The Leopards and Bulldogs switched off leads, never letting each other get too out of reach, but by halftime La Verne was up 35-32.
A number of fouls by the Leopards, who gave up nearly 21 points in free throws in the second half alone, kept the second half slow in time but jammed packed with action.
Celaya fouled out with 6:41 remaining in the game.
With Celaya out and the game at 67-66, Redlands, junior forward Chris Moreland gave La Verne a temporary lead Redlands returned the favor and then two free throws by junior guard Dale Schroeder made the score 70-69, ULV.
On a burst of action, Redlands drove the ball down the court, hitting the post for the lead, 71-70. La Verne, having a hard time with the rebound, gave the Bulldogs the ball who went for the three-pointer. Schroeder later tied it at 74-74 with a three-pointer.
Each team exchanged leads until the clock wore down, and with 1:31 left and Redlands up, 81-79, neither team could score. A time out by Redlands stopped the clock at 44.9, with the score still at 81-79. La Verne came back with fire in their eyes and Schroeder delivered a three pointer, making it 83-82.
A foul gave Redlands the ball and they picked up two more points. La Verne was unable to make the shot and the game ended 85-82.
Sparking the conference season with a close 64-61 road win against Redlands on Jan. 11, the Leopards were looking in prime condition. They then took on Caltech at home winning 63-46 giving them a 6-6 record, 2-0, in the Southern California Intercollegiate Conference (SCIAC).
A hard 68-52 loss to Occidental College and then another heart breaker to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps had the Leopards down to a 6-8 record, 2-2 in SCIAC.
Unable to get back in the saddle, the men could not pull the win from Whittier in a 73-70 overtime nail bitter and when facing Pomona-Pitzer at home on Jan. 29 the 82-68 loss still did not hit the men that hard.
“Our goal is to take it one game at a time. Nothing changes for us. We are not going to give up,” said Schroeder.
The men traveled to Thousand Oaks Saturday night to play Cal Lutheran, second in SCIAC, and ULV hoped to improve its SCIAC standing, sixth, under Whittier.
CLU’s Kingsmen had just come off a three game winning streak previously winning 58-55 against Occidental. The Leopards came out roaring and ready to go leading the game for the majority of the first half. The Leopards held tight and went into half time with a 38-34 lead.
But as luck fell so did La Verne’s lead, and the game ended with the Kingsmen winning 83-67.
“We just didn’t come out with the same intensity that they did. We dug ourselves a hole and we couldn’t get out,” Schroeder said.
