Leopards end season with a win
Campus Times
February 28, 1997
Junior Ivan Battle struggles inside the key for a lay-up during Saturday's
game against Pomona-Pitzer. La Verne lost to the Sagehens, 76-60.
by Scott Harvey
Assistant Sports Editor
The men's basketball team completed the 1997 season this past week as
they travelled to the No.1 team in the Southern California Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference (SCIAC) on Saturday Feb. 22, losing by 16, 76-60, and
hosted Cal Lutheran on Wednesday, winning 71-63.
The second match-up Wednesday against the Kingsmen was a much more level
game and Cal Lutheran would have its hands full as La Verne rallied 71 points.
"We had a good night shooting, and Scott [Fitzgerald] was great
in the post," said freshman point guard Jimmy Alapag.
The first half proved to be a tougher challenge for the Leopards as
the score was tied three times until the Kingsmen finally came alive and
went into the locker room at half time with a 36-32 lead.
In the second half senior center Scott Fitzgerald took the game over
by controlling the boards for La Verne with six grabs and led the team in
scoring with 14 points. It was an emotional and rewarding last game at La
Verne for Fitzgerald as his team came alive and scored 12 straight points
to beat the Kingsmen, 71-63.
"That was one of Scott's overall better games, not only for this
season but last season as well, which was nice for him to go out on,"
said head coach Terry Boesel.
The Leopards went into the game at Pomona-Pitzer as the 7th ranked team
in the SCIAC with a record of 4-8 in league and an overall record of 8-14.
"We had a good chance to win the game, but they made their run
on us and never stopped," said Alapag.
The Sagehen's scoring attack mostly came from senior shooting guard
Brett Lange who gave Pomona-Pitzer the lead early by burying his first shot
of the game, a three point bucket, and leaving La Verne scoreless for one
minute at 3-0.
Turnovers seemed to be the biggest problem for La Verne on Saturday
as they turned over the rock six times in the opening eight minutes. When
the Leopards had the ball they were in sync, scoring nine quick points including
a long three pointer from junior guard Paul Celaya which tied the game early
at 14-14.
The Sagehens struck back scoring on the next three possessions and looked
to run away with the game, until Celaya rained on their parade with another
three point basket and brought La Verne within one point.
The Leopards controlled the next few possessions and once again Celaya
hit from down town, bringing La Verne its first lead, 24-23. The score stayed
close until the end of the half, but Pomona-Pitzer had the slight edge going
into the locker room as they led by five, 37-32.
In the second half the Leopards struggled, giving up 33 points to the
Sagehens and eventually ran out of gas. Pomona-Pitzer took over the game
a won easily, 76-60.
When asked about the entire season, Boesel said, "There were a
lot of ups and downs in the season but we ended on a good note which makes
us feel better."
La Verne ends its season with an overall record of 9-15 and 4-9 in league
games.