SportsBasketball

La Verne wins with 3-point buzzer-beater

La Verne junior point guard Khaneal Mason makes a fast break layup helping to cut the Leopards deficit to 67-65 in the second half. The Leopards defeated the Boxers, 68-67, with a three-point buzzer beater by junior guard Hakim Arnold Sunday at Frantz Athletic Court. / photo by Nanor Zinzalian
La Verne junior point guard Khaneal Mason makes a fast break layup helping to cut the Leopards deficit to 67-65 in the second half. The Leopards defeated the Boxers, 68-67, with a three-point buzzer beater by junior guard Hakim Arnold Sunday at Frantz Athletic Court. / photo by Nanor Zinzalian

Jolene Nacapuy
Editor in Chief

La Verne junior guard Hakim Arnold made a last-minute 3-pointer to give the men’s basketball team a 68-67 victory over Pacific University Sunday at Frantz Athletic Court.

After being down by as many as 16 points, the Leopards rallied in the final minutes of the second half to get within two.

With seven seconds remaining in the game, Arnold darted across the court after Leopards junior guard Kendall McClain got the defensive rebound from a missed jump shot by the Boxers.

As the clock wound down, Arnold took a shot from behind the arc. The ball bounced back-and-forth on top of the rim, before swishing in for the one-point win.

After I got the ball from Kendall, there was no doubt in my mind about taking the last shot,” Arnold said. “It’s a special moment that I’ve thought about since I was little. Making that buzzer beater to win the game and getting dog piled by my family was an amazing feeling.”

Arnold led the team with 16 points and seven rebounds.

La Verne head coach Richard Reed said that it was a great play by McClain to recognize how much time was left on the clock.

“He didn’t panic, he showed great poise and it was a good decision on his part because they kind of came at him and he passed the ball to Hakim, which shows his unselfishness and Hakim got a good look and fortunately it went in,” he said.

The Leopards are now 2-3 overall and have not begun Southern California Intercol­legiate Athletic Conference play.

“I’m excited that we were able to pull that game out. I’m proud of our guys for not quitting,” Reed said. “There was a couple of times where they got up by 14 or 15 points and we could have quit, but our guys hung tough and pulled it out.”

With 8:13 left on the clock in the second half, Arnold put in a jumper to cut the deficit, 60-55.

With less than five minutes left in the game, La Verne still trailed by five, 66-61.

Leopards sophomore guard Anthony White drove in through the right side for a layup over Boxers senior guard Bobby Ahern.

Pacific senior guard DeVon Pouncey managed to put in one out of two free throws with 45 seconds left in the game to push the lead back to four, 67-63.

La Verne answered with a fast-break layup by junior guard Khaneal Mason.

Mason finished the game with nine points, four rebounds and a team-high with five assists.

Pacific sophomore guard Michael Garcia attempted a 3-pointer with seven seconds left, but he missed and McClain was there for the rebound. He passed the ball to Arnold for the win.

“I felt relieved after the shot went in the hoop,” Arnold said. “I’ve been recovering from an ankle injury and being able to make a big play like this for my teammates is the best feeling in the world.”

Despite La Verne shooting 38.7 percent from the field in comparison to 42.9 percent from Pacific, the Leopards defense managed to hold off the Boxers.

The game got off to a slow start with missed shots from both teams.

The Leopards got on the board first with two free throws by senior forward Nick Lewis.

Ahern made a 3-pointer to give Pacific a lead that it held until Arnold’s game-winning shot.

Midway through the first half, Pouncey put in a jumper, but La Verne sophomore guard Victor Costa answered back with a shot behind the arc to get La Verne within four, 18-14.

With 7:33 left in the first half, La Verne cut its deficit to three, 24-21, after Arnold put in a jump shot from the right.

The Leopards ended the first half down, 35-29.

“Our team, we try to pride ourselves to play through it and try to focus on the process, not the results and just stay positive,” Mason said.

La Verne trailed by 10 at the beginning of the second, when junior guard Cruz Mertens put in back-to-back 3-pointers.

While La Verne pulled out the close win, Reed said there are still things to improve on before the next game.

“There’s a lot of different things we got to do better,” Reed said. “We got to rebound the ball better and we have to take care of the basketball a lot better than we did.”

The Leopards will be back in action against Wisconsin-La Crosse at 2 p.m. Dec. 28 and UC Santa Cruz at 5 p.m. Dec. 29 at Frantz Athletic Court.

The team will begin SCIAC play at 5 p.m. Jan. 2 against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at the Rains Center at Pomona-Pitzer.

“I think we have a team that can change the culture of La Verne basketball,” Mason said. “We’re competitive and not necessarily competitors in the conference and this year I think we’re going to be ready.”

Jolene Nacapuy can be reached at jolene.nacapuy@laverne.edu.

Other Stories Bio
Nanor Zinzalian
Other Stories Bio
Previous article
White House honors ULV for research immersion
Next article
ENACTUS donates to students in Philippines

Latest Stories

Related articles

Basketball

Basketball playoff hopes fall short

With 19 turnovers, giving 26 points to Cal Lutheran, the La Verne men’s basketball team suffered a 79-92 loss in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference postseason tournament semifinals at Gilbert Arena.
Basketball

24-year postseason absence ends

La Verne’s 24-year absence from the postseason tournament ended after the men’s basketball team defeated No. 14 ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 75-68, Saturday at Frantz Athletic Court.
Basketball

Basketball continues push for first place

The men’s basketball team beat the Chapman Panthers, 65-60, in an offensive struggle Saturday at Frantz Athletic Court.
Basketball

Final loss drops men from tourney

The crowd was on its feet and the chants of “Defense” rang across Frantz Athletic Court Tuesday. Unfortunately the chants ended in sighs as the men’s basketball team’ season came to an end in a last second loss to the Redlands Bulldogs, 78-76.