LA VERNE, CA — Head coach Richard Reed called timeout with 7.8 seconds left in the game, the Leopards trailing by one, 75-74, and the shot clock turned off.
Senior guard Jonas Holt inbounded the ball to senior forward Kyler Harvey near the right elbow, who dished it to Howard at the top of the key. Howard drove to the baseline, faded away from a pair of Bulldogs, and floated up La Verne's final shot.
It rattled in for the win, snapping a six-game skid and turning a new leaf into the second round of conference play. The 76-75 victory over Redlands is the Leopards' best win of the season.
"I'm so proud of our team. Not just for this one for this win, but more so for how they continue to battle together through the near wins we have had," said Reed. "Our conference has four teams receiving votes in the top 25 and we just played all four of them. The conference is as good as it has ever been and we have shown we can compete with anyone."
The Bulldogs entered the game receiving votes in the D3hoops.com men's Top 25. The SCIAC is one of the toughest conferences in the country this season, with three teams receiving votes in the Top 25 and Cal Lutheran ranked at No. 16.
"Winning is hard and our team has embraced the hard. They keep believing in each other and they keep sticking together and showing up," added Reed.
Howard scored the most important points of the night for La Verne, but junior guard Dahmaj Warren was sharp from the field for a team-high 21 points. Warren notched 14 in the second half, matching grad student forward Paul Antonis' game total. Before fouling out, the Long Beach native set up Howard's go-ahead shot, driving hard to the right and laying in a contested shot to put La Verne within a point with 28 seconds remaining.
Junior guard Darien Guyton and senior forward Kyler Harvey each scored 11 points and collected nearly half of the Leopards' 41 rebounds. Gutyon led La Verne with nine rebounds, and Harvey collected eight. Brad Yasukochi also made an impact off the glass, totaling eight boards.
Guyton kept the Leopards in contention late when he sank a clutch three to bring the score to 53-73 with 1:12 to play.
The Leopards improve to 5-11 overall, winning their second SCIAC matchup, improving to 2-6, and close out the first half of conference play. La Verne will travel to Pasadena on Wednesday night to compete against the Caltech Beavers at 7 p.m.
