Claremont, Calif. - Freshman forward Jack Klukas (Eden Prairie, Minn.) had 19 points and nine rebounds to help the Pomona-Pitzer Men's Basketball team to a 64-57 win over La Verne on Saturday evening.

With the win, the Sagehens improve to 9-6 overall and 4-1 in the SCIAC, while La Verne slips to 4-12 overall and 1-4 in the SCIAC with the loss. Pomona-Pitzer also moves into a three-way tie for first, as Whittier defeated previously unbeaten Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 88-85 in double overtime, moving both of those teams to 4-1 as well.

Pomona-Pitzer appeared to have the game in control as it took a 38-22 lead into halftime. The Sagehens shot 52 percent from the floor in the first half (13-25) and had only one turnover as a team.

However, La Verne came out in the second half with renewed life and held the Sagehens without a field goal for almost seven minutes as it whittled the lead down to 39-35.  Klukas, though, stopped the bleeding with a three-pointer at the top of the key off a pass from sophomore forward John Weiss (Cleveland, Ohio) and then returned the favor on the next possession as he fed Weiss for a backdoor lay-up to make the score 44-37.

The Leopards kept fighting back and had the game within 48-45 on a jumper from Austin Napolitano with 7:07 to play.  Klukas, though, drew the defense and found Weiss all alone for a three-pointer to double the lead back up to six points.

After a stop, Klukas was fouled on the defensive rebound and made both foul shots. Napolitano again cut the lead down to six, but freshman guard Michael Cohen (Tarzana, Calif.) made three big plays in a row for the Sagehens. He had a tough lay-up in traffic to push the lead to eight, fed sophomore forward Jake Klewer (Tucson, Ariz.) for a lay-up with the shot clock expiring, and then hit a 10-foot running floater with 2:36 left to make the score 59-49, and the Leopards were unable to threaten again.

Klukas led the Sagehens (or tied for the lead) in every statistical category, with 19 points, nine rebounds, four three-pointers, seven free throws, two assists, two steals and a block. Freshman guard Kyle McAndrews (Seattle, Wash.) added 12 points for Pomona-Pitzer, while Cohen and Weiss each had nine.

Napolitano led all scorers for La Verne with 20 points, while Tyler Hoyt had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Leopards leading scorer Trevor Woodland was held to just 2-16 shooting by the Pomona-Pitzer defense.

The Sagehens will be back in action on Wednesday when they travel to Whittier in a battle of two of the three teams currently tied for first.