With a solid shooting effort that resulted in four double-digit scorers, the University of Redlands men's basketball team captured an important 78-61 victory over the University of La Verne in tonight's Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) in Currier Gym.

Amidst more than 700 enthusiastic fans, the Maroon and Gray jumped out to an early five-point lead and never relinquished control of the game. Although the Leopards tied it up twice, Redlands controlled the pace of play with quality shooting form every aspect of the floor. The Bulldogs knocked down 49.1% of their shots to go along with a 38.5% showing from long range and a 72.4% effort from the charity stripe.

Redlands garnered a seven-point lead at the break and then opened the second half with a 7-0 run to get up by 14.

La Verne fought back to move within eight on more than one occasion but that was all the Leopards could muster.

The Maroon and Gray made it a 17-point game in the final seconds for the largest lead of the game when sophomore forward Steven Williams (Ventura, CA) came off the bench and scored a lay-up.

Senior guard Pat Coffey (San Carlos, CA) paced the Bulldog offense with 13 points, going 2-for-3 from long range. Junior guard Matt Dietrich (Phoenix, AZ) and junior center Jordan Sanvictores (Redwood City, CA) each contributed 12 points. Senior guard Andrew Maertens (Salt Lake City, UT) chipped in 11 points while hitting all three of his three-pointers.

The Leopards looked to sophomore forward Trevor Woodland (Covina, CA) to come off the bench for a game-leading 20 points. Their next best scorer was sophomore guard John Leggett (Riverside, CA), who added nine points.

Among the conference schools, the Bulldogs (10-8, 6-1 SCIAC) sit in a first-place tie with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges and look forward to hosting the Stags on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in Currier Gym.