LA VERNE, CA — The University of La Verne men's basketball team jumped out to an early 10-point lead and never looked back, walking away with an impressive 113-63 win over the West Coast Baptist College Eagles in The Tents on Saturday.
Kyler Harvey shined in his 20 minutes on the court, scoring on 9 out of 13 attempts to lead the Leopards with 18 points. He also racked up seven rebounds and a block. Paul Antonis scored 13 points on 5-9 shooting with three rebounds, two steals, one assist, and a made three-pointer.
Harvey put the Leopards up 16-6 just over three minutes into the game off an assist from Dahmaj Warren to give his squad the early momentum. Harvey did most of his damage in the first half, scoring 14 of his 18 points.
"It was a good team win. Everybody played with a lot of effort and energy. The team led me to the right spots, easy layups. Just executing our roles and just doing what we need to do to get the win," said Harvey
A jumper from Josiah Wimberly gave the Leopards a 56-34 lead at the break, and they kept their momentum going into the second half.
The Leopards outscored 57 points against the Eagles 29 points in the second half. The Leopards' bench scored 42 of La Verne's points in the period. It was a total team effort from the La Verne. Seventeen Leopards scored in the win, with the bench contributing 63 points.
"It's always nice to reward guys who are working hard in practice. A lot of people in the general public don't know how hard these guys work that don't always get an opportunity to shine on the court. It's exciting to be able to get them in the game," said University of La Verne men's basketball head coach Richard Reed. "We truly feel like we have a team. We feel like we can go 12 or 13 deep, so it's nice to be able to get those guys in the game and reward them for their efforts."
Austin Nassar made the most of his opportunities, grabbing a game-high eight rebounds in just eight minutes of work. Warren finished with nine points and a game-high five assists. Brandin Ziegler scored nine points and grabbed two boards.
Logen Howard finished with seven points and two steals. Darien Guyton had a near-identical stat line, finishing with seven points, two steals, and three assists.
David Aydlette led West Coast Baptist with 18 points.
The Leopards return to action Friday, December 15, at 5 p.m. when they take on the Park University Gilbert Buccaneers in The Tents.
