LA VERNE – The University of La Verne men's basketball team used two huge plays by Hakim Arnold and Weston Newell in overtime to hold on for a 74-70 win against Redlands on Wednesday night at the Sports Pavilion.
Leading by two with 1:33 left in the game and Redlands breathing down La Verne's neck, Newell drove in from the top of the key for a layup, but didn't get a clean look and missed. However, the 6-foot-2 freshman Arnold was there to clean up the board and put it back up to give the Leopards a 68-64 cushion.
On the ensuing Redlands possession, Newell jumped the passing lane, came up with the steal and converted a breakaway lay-up to make up for his previous miss and put the Leos up by six with 45 seconds to go.
Redlands made one final push with 3-pointers by Ricky Peetz and Alex Rudd, but Arnold and Newell calmly knocked down La Verne's next four free throws to ice the game.
La Verne led by as much at 14 points in the second half and had multiple chances to put the game away before that.
After trading baskets early in the game, the Leopards went on a 11-0 run from the midway point of the first half to 3:29 mark keyed by two layups apiece between Ronn See and Niall Harrison. The Leos also limited the Bulldogs to just 4 for 22 from the field to start the game.
But Redlands soon broke out of their slump to finish the half on an 11-2 run of its own and cut the deficit to five points going into the break.
See and Cruz Mertens caught on fire in the second half. The duo combined for 29 points in the half alone and with 6:20 left, See hit a free throw to give the Leopards a 52-38 lead and La Verne looked to have all but locked it up.
But the Bulldogs kept on fighting. Redlands mounted a furious rally led by Rudd, who knocked down three 3-pointers and a layup in the next 4 minutes to give the Bulldogs their first lead since the early minutes of the first half. However, See once again came up big for the Leopards and with 49 seconds remaining, hit a layup to force the overtime.
"The hardest thing to do in conference play – because everyone knows each other so well – is to put the game away," La Verne head coach Richard Reed said. "We had numerous chances to do that … But at the end of the day, a win is a win and it keeps us in the race, so we're excited."
With the win, La Verne improves to 8-12 overall and 5-6 in SCIAC play and stays in the thick of the race for a berth in the SCIAC Postseason Tournament. Redlands falls to 8-12 and 4-7.
See, who had been averaging 15 points per game on 51.5 percent shooting in his last six games, continued his hot streak. The senior poured in 26 points on an efficient 8 of 14 shooting and went 10 for 12 from the charity stripe.
"Ronn just made a play after play tonight," Reed said. "And his leadership really showed in the late stages of the game even when he wasn't on the floor. He really helped our younger guys stay in it."
Josiah Sukumaran did a lot of dirty work. The junior created extra possessions and kept them alive by getting in the passing lanes and fighting for rebounds. He finished with four steals and six rebounds.
Harrison added 10 points and five rebounds for the Leopards
La Verne returns to action on Saturday at 5 p.m. when they host third-place Cal Lutheran on "Go Green Night." All students who wear green will receive a raffle ticket at the door and winners will be announced at the halftime of the women's game, also against Cal Lutheran. The women's game is slated for a 7 p.m. tipoff.