Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. – It was the one that got away.

The Whittier basketball team led by 11 points with 9:25 left in regulation but succumbed to a La Verne comeback that was capped by heady foul shooting down the stretch. The Poets' last ditch effort hit off the front iron and the Leopards escaped Dave Jacobs Court as 52-50 winners on Saturday night.

La Verne (13-11, 8-5 SCIAC) took a late lead on a Jeremy Lay 3-pointer and stretched its one-point advantage to three after Austin Napolitano knocked down a pair of bonus foul shots.

After the Lay 3-pointer, the Poets worked the ball to Nathan Easterman who missed his layup amongst contact. Not happy with the no-call, Easterman fouled Napolitano and put the junior on the line with a chance to extend the Leopard lead.

Napolitano capitalized on Easterman's fifth foul and gave La Verne a 51-48 advantage.

On their ensuing possession, the Poets (12-12, 7-6 SCIAC) worked the ball into the front court and Willie Mebane finished a layup to trim the deficit to one-point. With the ball, La Verne had the lead with only seven seconds separating the shot and game clock. The Poets opted for defensive pressure.

Paul Davis guarded Trevor Woodland closely and knocked the ball away. As the two went for the ball the official blew his whistle and called Woodland for the loose-ball foul.

Following head coach Rock Carter's timeout, the Poets put the ball in the hands of Jordan Ramos who drove baseline and put up a running jumper with 10 seconds left. The ball missed short and Alex Wolpe pulled in the rebound. The Poets quickly fouled Wolpe who made 1-of-2 foul shots.

Whittier drove the length of the court in seven seconds and got off a floater in the lane. Ramos' attempt missed but the ball deflected out to Ricky Kamayatsu who desperately tossed it towards the bucket but came up empty.

The Leopards came back with a 48-percent shooting second half while the Poets shot just 29-percent.

Napolitano scored a game-high 17 points while Wolpe finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds.

Kamayatsu and Mebane shared the team-high honors in points with 10. Greg Preer, who fouled out, had eight points and eight rebounds. Ramos had four points, five rebounds and eight steals.

Whittier led 29-23 at the intermission despite shooting 27 percent. Whittier was just 3-of-10 from deep while La Verne was 5-of-15. The Leopards were 19-of-43 for the game.

The Poets will face Cal Lutheran on Tuesday evening in Thousand Oaks. The winner will receive the fourth and final playoff spot to the conference postseason tournament.