Jonathan Corral
Staff Writer
With Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play around the corner, the men’s basketball team continued their tune-up, pre-season schedule going 1-2 at the Lee Fulmer Memorial Tournament in Redlands.
The Leopards suffered defeats to Chapman, 98-80, Pacific Lutheran (Wash.), 97-91 and their lone victory came in a route 97-63 against UC Santa Cruz.
After the tournament, the Leopards’ record falls to 3-4 on the year before heading into the Christmas break. The Leopards will resume action on Dec. 30 when they go head-to-head with Dominican (Ill.) at the Supertents.
“We didn’t play as well as we could have,” head coach Gabe Duran said. “As a team we need to come together and play like we know how and if we do that and use the talent we have, everything will be fine.”
Earning a small measure of satisfaction, the Leopards easily defeated UC Santa Cruz, in a game which saw point guard Marc Holmquist lead the team in scoring with 13 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists. Holmquist also shot 3-of-4 from three-point range.
Forwards Bryan Mallon and Shawn Lokar each scored 12 points, with Mallon collecting team-high 11 rebounds.
“As an entire team we played a great game,” Mallon said. “We have enough talent on our team, that if we play like this night in and night out we can play with anybody.”
After being out rebounded 51-44 in their 97-91 loss to Pacific Lutheran on Friday (Dec. 3), the Leopards turned the tables and grabbed a 54-33 edge on the boards against the Banana Slugs.
The Leopards also shot 52 percent from the field in the first half leading them to a 54-29 halftime lead against Santa Cruz. Also contributed in the game were guards Jake Franzen and Brandon Newte who each added nine points respectively.
The defeat at the hands of Pacific Lutheran came down to a second half route. The Leopards led at the half 46-40 holding PLU to only 38 percent shooting from the field. In the second half the Leopards allowed 57 points and Pacific Lutheran to shoot 52 percent from the field on their way to the victory.
The opening tournament game for the Leopards against Chapman was a tale of two halves.
Chapman’s Zach Wheatley scored a game-high 33 points in the 98-80 victory over the Leopards.
The Leopards held 49-44 halftime lead only to watch the Panthers shoot 62 percent from the field in the second half.
The Panthers also knocked down seven three-point baskets in the second half to put away the Leopards, outscoring them, 54-31.
A little of not being aggressive enough and not getting the calls, the Leopards did not attempt a single free-throw in the second half as most of the calls went Chapman’s way.
In the game the Leopards shot 52 percent from the field in the defeat. Jason Greenlee led the Leopards in scoring with 20 points while Franzen and Mallon contributed with 15 and 13 points, respectively.
ULV continues action Dec. 30 against Dominican at home.
Jonathan Corral can be reached at jcorral@ulv.edu.
Journalism operations manager at the University of La Verne. Production manager and business manager of the Campus Times.