LA VERNE, Calif. - For the second consecutive contest the Cal Lutheran men's basketball team needed overtime against a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) opponent. Tonight, on the road at La Verne, the Kingsmen ended up on the short end of an 80-76 loss as the Leopards swept past CLU this winter.

The Violet and Gold opened a 34-31 lead at the intermission, but a tenacious Leos team came back to outscore CLU in the final 20 minutes, tying things at 74-74 on a pair of free-throws from Ronn See with 10 seconds to play in regulation, after the Kingsmen maintained a lead from the 5:43 mark of the opening half when Dan Wade hit a jumper to break a tie.

Kyle Knudsen scored the first basket of overtime, two minutes into the five-minute period, but LV reeled off six unanswered points to steal the win.

Leading all players tonight offensively was Arik Smith, who poured in 20 points on 8-for-18 shooting. He also hauled in a team-leading eight rebounds, which was also a share of the game-high. Coltrane Powdrill chipped in with 16 points and Jeremy Sulker-Hall came off the bench for 13 on a 6-for-8 night. Corey Quintana was quiet offensively, but grabbed six boards for CLU.

La Verne (9-12, 6-6 SCIAC) evens its SCIAC record and climbs into the fourth spot in the league standings. The Leos got double figure performances from four different players with Niall Harrison leading the team with both 19 points and eight rebounds. Weston Newell was next in line with a 16-point, seven rebound night.

Tonight marked the third overtime game in league action during the 2013-14 season for CLU.

Cal Lutheran (17-5, 8-5 SCIAC) is back on the road on Wednesday, Feb. 12 when the Kingsmen travel to Redlands for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off with the Bulldogs.

Box Score: ULV 80, CLU 76 - OT - box score not available at time of release
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