Hoopers fall three short to Bulldogs, 85-82
Campus Times
February 7, 1997
Whipping out a close first half is nothing new to the University of
La Verne's men's basketball team, but finishing it up is what seems to be
the hard part.
The Leopards hosted Redlands University Wednesday night and in a close,
but no cigar game with Redlands triumphing, 85-82.
It seemed that a win over the Bulldogs would end a six game losing streak
the Leopards have had since their last match up against Redlands.
The game began with a quick shot and a 2-0 lead from Redlands, but senior
forward Scott Fitzgerald soon gave La Verne the 2-2 tie.
A baseline jumper from junior guard Paul Celeya kicked the Leopards
up to 4-2. Redlands evened it out at 4-4 and with that, both teams began
to pick up the pace.
The Leopards and Bulldogs switched off leads, never letting each other
get too out of reach, but by halftime La Verne was up 35-32.
A number of fouls by the Leopards, who gave up nearly 21 points in free
throws in the second half alone, kept the second half slow in time but jammed
packed with action.
Celeya fouled out with 6:41 remaining in the game.
With Celeya out and the game at 67-66, Redlands, junior forward Chris
Moreland gave La Verne a temporary lead Redlands returned the favor and
then two free throws by junior guard Dale Schroeder made the score 70-69,
ULV.
On a burst of action, Redlands drove the ball down the court, hitting
the post for the lead, 71-70. La Verne, having a hard time with the rebound,
gave the Bulldogs the ball who went for the three-pointer. Schroeder later
tied it at 74-74 with a three-pointer.
Each team exchanged leads until the clock wore down, and with 1:31 left
and Redlands up, 81-79, neither team could score. A time out by Redlands
stopped the clock at 44.9, with the score still at 81-79. La Verne came
back with fire in their eyes and Schroeder delivered a three pointer, making
it 83-82.
A foul gave Redlands the ball and they picked up two more points. La
Verne was unable to make the shot and the game ended 85-82.
Sparking the conference season with a close 64-61 road win against Redlands
on Jan. 11, the Leopards were looking in prime condition. They then took
on Caltech at home winning 63-46 giving them a 6-6 record, 2-0, in the Southern
California Intercollegiate Conference (SCIAC).
A hard 68-52 loss to Occidental College and then another heart breaker
to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps had the Leopards down to a 6-8 record, 2-2 in
SCIAC.
Unable to get back in the saddle, the men could not pull the win from
Whittier in a 73-70 overtime nail bitter and when facing Pomona-Pitzer at
home on Jan. 29 the 82-68 loss still did not hit the men that hard.
"Our goal is to take it one game at a time. Nothing changes for
us. We are not going to give up," said Schroeder.
The men traveled to Thousand Oaks Saturday night to play Cal Lutheran,
second in SCIAC, and ULV hoped to improve its SCIAC standing, sixth, under
Whittier.
CLU's Kingsmen had just come off a three game winning streak previously
winning 58-55 against Occidental. The Leopards came out roaring and ready
to go leading the game for the majority of the first half. The Leopards
held tight and went into half time with a 38-34 lead.
But as luck fell so did La Verne's lead, and the game ended with the
Kingsmen winning 83-67.
"We just didn't come out with the same intensity that they did.
We dug ourselves a hole and we couldn't get out," Schroeder said.