by Damien Alarcon
Sports Editor
With the Leopards losing to host Pomona-Pitzer and a Claremont-Mudd-Scripps victory over Occidental, the Leopards ended the season in third place.
CMS defeated the Tigers, 82-62, at Claremont. Only a short distance away on the same campus, Pomona-Pitzer gained sole possession of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) title, defeating La Verne, 85-67.
Last night’s defeat by Pomona-Pitzer was due to a number of factors. Defense, or the lack of it on the part of the Leopards, and the Sagehens’ powerful offensive display led to ULV’s downfall, including nine three-pointers.
Head coach Dan Mulville said, “I don’t feel like that [excited about getting this far]. Right now I’m pretty disappointed, I told our guys to get up in their face, we did not guard anybody.”
Entering the game, Pomona-Pitzer had no less than a share of the SCIAC championship title. La Verne, defeated Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Tuesday night, 57-54, giving it hope. The victory brought a conference championship in view. The win over the Stags knocked them down a game, placing La Verne and CMS in a tie for second place with 10-3 records.
If La Verne would have won, the conference would have had a three-way tie among CMS, La Verne and Pomona-Pitzer for first place.
Had La Verne defeated Pomona-Pitzer, the Leopards would have had a first round playoff bye, playing the winner of CMS and Pomona-Pitzer tomorrow night. CMS and Pomona-Pitzer would have played tonight at a neutral site.
“It was really nice being in this position to fight for a championship. It was a big disappointment coming in here and losing,” said senior guard Chad Duggins. “We just didn’t play with much intensity. Our shots didn’t fall. The result was a big disappointment.”
