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LV men’s basketball team rises after falling to Stags

University of La Verne sophomore guard Steve Reese works his way through Pomona-Pitzer defenders Gavin Cree and Ben Kane during the first half of Monday night's game. After an unanswered nine-point run by the Leopards offense during the second half, ULV tied the Sagehens, forcing the game into overtime and allowing the Leopards to win their final home game of the season. / photo by Tom Galaraga
University of La Verne sophomore guard Steve Reese works his way through Pomona-Pitzer defenders Gavin Cree and Ben Kane during the first half of Monday night’s game. After an unanswered nine-point run by the Leopards offense during the second half, ULV tied the Sagehens, forcing the game into overtime and allowing the Leopards to win their final home game of the season. / photo by Tom Galaraga

by Dimitri Watson
Staff Writer

The University of La Verne men’s basketball team went 2-1 this week on the road against competition, with a loss to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, and wins over Whittier and Pomona-Pitzer.

The first game took place Saturday against Whittier. The Leopards had won the last time these two teams met and they expected the same outcome for game two. But the Leopards got the unexpected early. The Leopards showed no aggression and did not take care of the ball. The defense was baffled by the Poets, and Whittier clearly had all the momentum.

The Leopard’s shots just were not falling, as they shot a miserable 31 percent, going 0-7 from 3-point range.

The Leopards had to work for every basket in the first half .

The defense was not forcing turnovers, which lead to easy points. The Leopards found themselves down 41-27 by the end of the first half

“We came out extremely flat and committed to many turnovers. At halftime our coach told us what needed to be done. Coach Boesel emphasized defense and what our defense would set up. I was told to take the strong every time because the man guarding me was to slow and I would score or get fouled every time,” said sophomore guard Marc McCoy.

“The first half we had awful execution, and we were playing terrible defense. Whittier was doing whatever they wanted. I knew if we picked it up on the defensive end, our shots would start to fall,” said Leopards head coach Terry Boesel

That was exactly what happened. The Leopards came out in the second half with a strong defensive mind. The Leopards were a whole different team.

“This was the best half we played all year,” said Boesel.

The Leopards scored twice as many points as they did in the first half, outscoring Whittier 58-37. The Leopards shot an amazing 61.5 percent in the second half. ULV hit 7-10 from 3-point range.

Junior forward Joe Bolander, cleaned up the boards, grabbing 12 rebounds, 16 points and 2 steals. Junior guard Robbie Leark and sophomore guard Steve Reese also scored 16 points. Marc McCoy added 18 points, getting to the line all day, like the coach told him he would, hitting 13-16.

The second game took place Wednesday against the Stags. The Stags came into the game as the No. 1 team in the SCIAC conference. The Leopards were facing a team that had only suffered one loss.

“We were loose for this game, and playing with nothing to lose, while the Stags were playing to hold on to first place. We came into the game with hopes of ruining Stags playoff run. We were loose, but full of more energy and aggression than usual, said McCoy.

The Leopards led most of the first half until the Stags went on a 7-0 run. After that the Leopards just couldn’t get over the hump. “This was a very winnable game,” said McCoy.

McCoy’s main priority was to guard the Stags best offensive weapon Bob Donlan, who is ranked second in the conference in scoring. The leopards were within 5 points with 3 minutes left to go but the senior Stags guards were too much down the stretch.

The Stags pulled off the victory 73-60. Reese led the Leopards with 21 points and 5 rebounds; McCoy added 14 points and 4 steals, while Bolander led the team with 9 rebounds.

The last game took place this Monday at home against Pomona-Pitzer. La Verne was given the opportunity to rebound from the Stags loss.

“We came out slow and flat and found ourselves down early. Turnovers in the first half killed us. We simply just were not executing our offense,” said sophomore guard Steve Reese.

In the second half it was junior guard Josh Johnson who sparked the team off the bench, hitting key 3-pointers.

Johnson’s crucial buckets proved to be the difference.

This increased the Leopards’ intensity and forced them to pick it up on defense creating turnovers. “As I picked it up on defense my offense just started to come. In the second half I got into rhythm and just started to feel the stroke from 3-point range.

The Leopards forced overtime. In overtime sophomore forward Brian Moote hit a big shot that proved to be the difference in the game.

Moote has been the unsung hero for the Leopards, doing all the things that don’t show up on the statistic sheets. Such as taking charges, diving for loose balls and doing all the grunt work for the Leopards.

“Moote has been playing much better in the last five games. He has been playing great post defense, and has been a great presence in the middle,” said coach Boesel.

Dimitri Watson
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Tom Galaraga, Assistant Managing Editor
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