University of La Verne

LA VERNE, CA — Dahmaj Warren finished with a double-double and the University of La Verne Leopards led Linfield University by two with 7:41 left to play. But the Wildcats got hot late and surged in the final minutes to defeat the Leopards 93-76 Wednesday afternoon.

Warren led the Leopards with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Warren had nine rebounds in the first half and made 10 of 12 free throw attempts. The senior also dished out four assists with three steals and one block.

Logen Howard also scored 20 points with five rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

The Wildcats did their damage at the free throw line, making 23-25 attempts in the game and 18-19 free throws in the second half alone. Linfield also sank six second-half three-pointers led by Cade Collins' game-high six makes from beyond the arc. Collins led all players with 26 points.

After falling behind early, the Leopards took an 18-17 lead on back-to-back makes at the line by Warren with 10:10 remaining in the first half. The Leopards went into the break up 41-37.

La Verne continued to keep the Wildcats at bay entering the second half and took an eight-point lead on a Paul Antonis jumper just over a minute into the period.

Five minutes later, Collins pulled up for three to even the game 51-51 but La Verne jumped back up by seven following a layup by Howard and two free throws from Warren. 

That's when Linfield started to heat up and closed the gap, tying the score on a Garret Calisen and-one layup, and taking the lead with the following free throw. The Wildcats took a 10-point lead with 4:28 left to play and the Leopards couldn't recover.

Antonis finished with 18 points, six rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. Ryan Lin grabbed four boards. Cody Aquino tallied six points and two rebounds.

The Leopards move to 1-1 on the season and Linfield improves to 1-2.