It was all La Verne Saturday night as the men’s basketball team improved its record to 2-7 in conference and 6-14 overall in a lopsided 67-43 victory over the Caltech Beavers in Pasadena.
La Verne shot just over 48 percent from the floor for the night and over 75 percent from the line.
After a slow start in the first half, the Leopards took over, going on a 14-0 run, giving La Verne a comfortable 21-7 lead with 11 minutes left in the first half.
Although they were offensively efficient, it was the Leopard’s defense that stood out, not allowing Caltech to break double digits until less than nine minutes remained in the first half.
Junior guard Billy Nicolini attributed their consistent first half play to “playing well as a team and executing what we wanted to do.”
Remaining dominant on defense the Leopards cruised into half time with a comfortable lead, with a score of 39-22.
The second half was much of the same.
La Verne came out a little slow, allowing the Beavers to score first, but they never looked back, going on an 18-0 run, topping their impressive 14-0 run in the first half.
With much of the same tempo, La Verne was dominant on the boards and they built a massive 33 point lead with a score of 57-24.
La Verne stayed consistent and kept the game out of reach with help from their bench, which contributed to the Leopards maintaining the biggest go ahead of the night; a 33 point lead.
The Leopards finished out their second Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory by remaining consistent on defense and on offense beating the Beavers with a final score of 67-43.
This was an impressive 29 point victory for head coach Richard Reed and his team, snapping a six-game losing streak.
La Verne’s first SCIAC win also came against Caltech with a score of 90-25 on Jan. 14 at home.
Although in somewhat of a deficit, the Leopards look ahead to their last five games of the season with confidence coming off a big road win at Caltech.
“It’s important for our guys and it’s a huge step for us moving forward with five games left in the season,” Reed said.
Reed also said that the win was important for his young players who are learning how to be successful competing at the college level.
Freshmen John Leggett, the starting point guard, is one of those young players.
“It’s a big jump. The games are a lot faster and the guys are a lot bigger,” Leggett said.
The Leopards carry eight freshmen on their roster, showing that they have room to grow as a team.
“There is always work to do and we need to focus on improving and we are looking forward to Wednesday when we play Cal Lutheran trying to take another step forward,” Reed said.
The Leopards lost to Cal Lutheran on Wednesday night at Frantz Court, 68-61.
Junior guard Matt Heyd led the Leopards in scoring with 17 points, and senior forward Kyle Luhnow added 12.
The team will next take on the Redlands Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Frantz Court.
On Wednesday, the Leopards will travel to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps to face the Stags at 7:30 p.m.
Aaron Braunwalder can be reached at aaron.braunwalder@laverne.edu.