In a game that saw both teams battle for every point earned, Cal Lutheran came up short in the final minutes of their game against La Verne Saturday night as the Leopards defeated the Kingsmen by a score of 48-44 at Gilbert Arena.

Box Score: ULV 48, CLU 44 - F

Greg Grimm led all scorers with 14 points, with CLU teammate Aaron Van Klaveren finishing with 13 points of his own in a tightly contested game that saw the lead change on eight occasions throughout the evening.

Entering the locker room down by four points at halftime, Cal Lutheran wasted no time in attacking the rim from the start of the second half and eventually built a six point lead of their own heading into the latter portion of the contest.

But it was the whistle that would turn out to be the deciding factor of the game as a number of Kingsmen had their usual number of minutes decreased due to the number of fouls incurred. Once key CLU starters left the game, La Verne wasted no time in seizing the opportunity that was presented before them.

Within a matter of minutes, the six-point lead that Cal Lutheran possessed changed sides of the court as the Leopards were able to create what they thought was a comfortable advantage heading into the final moments of the game.

Down by six, with 38 seconds left in the contest, Grimm hit a clutch three-point shot to slice the La Verne lead in half, giving his team a fighting chance to either erase the Leopard's lead completely, or force overtime.

The raucous crowd at Gilbert Arena had even more reason to cheer when the CLU defense successfully forced La Verne to kick the ball out of bounds on the very next play, providing the Kingsmen the very opportunity they had worked so hard to create.

But Grimm's three-pointer would turn out to be the last one of the evening as successive three-point attempts just would not fall for the home team, giving the La Verne their first win in Thousand Oaks since the 2005 season.

Cal Lutheran (8-8, 2-3 SCIAC) now has three days to prepare for their next game, a road contest against Whittier College (7-9, 2-3 SCIAC)  next Wednesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.