Box Score CLAREMONT, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Men's Basketball team fell in an overtime thriller to Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponent La Verne 105-104 on Tuesday night at Voelkel Gymnasium.
Season Impact: With the loss, the Sagehens drop to 10-8 overall and 6-3 in conference play while the Leopards improve to 12-6 overall and 7-2 in the SCIAC this season
The Sagehens were led by sophomore Daniel Rosenbaum who had an incredible career-high 36 points and 18 rebounds. Freshman James Kelbert also tallied a career-high with 25 points and seven rebounds coming off of the bench. Sophomore Corbin Koch tallied 20 points and freshman Micah Elan chipped in with 13.
The Leopards were led by Anthony White who had a team-high 21 points while Hakim Arnold tallied 18 points.
The Leopards and Sagehens found themselves in an old fashion shootout as both teams put up incredible numbers in the first half. The Sagehens shot just under 50% from the field in the first half while the Leopards cashed in on 67.7% of their shots from the floor.
The first ten minutes of the first half started out as a very close game with neither team able to pull away. La Verne made their first run of the game after White capped off the Leopards' run with a jump shot to take a 40-33 lead and forced the Sagehens to take a timeout with 6:37 left in the first half.
Pomona-Pitzer immediately responded with seven-straight points to tie the game back up at 40-40 and made a late run at the end of the first half to take a 58-51 lead heading into the locker room despite having the lower shooting percentage.
The second half began with a few consecutive runs by each team as the Leopards came out and immediately tied the game up at 60-60 but Pomona-Pitzer came right back with a 9-0 run and held a 69-60 lead after a Kelbert jumper with 15:19 to go.
La Verne began to chip away at the Pomona-Pitzer lead and eventually found themselves only down one points at 91-90 after White nailed a three-point jumper with 3:03 left in the second half.
After taking the lead, La Verne forced the Sagehens to foul to send the Leopards to the free throw line with a chance to put the game away.
After only making one of two free throw chances, the Sagehens rushed the ball down the court and Rosenbaum was able to convert on a last second layup to force overtime.
The Leopards won the tip to start the overtime period and converted an and-one layup by Mason to begin overtime with a three-point lead.
The Sagehens responded and took the lead after a Rosenbaum layup but a foul on a rebound attempt sent the Leopards to the line with a chance to take the lead with 29 seconds remaining.
After Connor Head went 2-2 from the line, the Leopards held a 105-104 lead with the Sagehens having one last chance to win the game. After a layup attempt by Rosenbaum, the ball was fought for but multiple members of both teams and tipped around the basket until Rosenbaum was able to tip in what was a potential game winning shot; however the Sagehens were one second too late as the buzzer sounded just before the ball left his fingers and La Verne escaped Voelkel Gymnasium with the win.
Up Next: The Sagehens will continue SCIAC play as they next travel to Cal Lutheran on Saturday, February 4th at 4:00 p.m.
