A furious rally by the University of La Verne fell short as the Leopards nearly rallied from a 26-point deficit in an 80-72 defeat to the Afghanistan National Team Monday night at Frantz Athletic Court.

La Verne suffered from a sluggish start, falling behind 42-16 with 3:23 in the opening frame en route to a 44-20 deficit at the break.

The Leos sliced the lead to 15 points on a jumper from Sam Adams as the Afghanistan squad lead 55-40 with 13:21 left.    However, the visitors went on a 13-4 run to push the lead back to 24 points at 68-44. 

Another spurt by the Leopards would make things interesting in late stages.  Trailing 74-54 with 4:55 to play, the Leos proceeded on a 15-1 run culminating on a jumper from Jonathan Bastos to pull within six at 75-69 with 1:53 remaining.  La Verne had two possessions to cut further into the lead but could not convert as the Afghanistan Nationals would eventually hold on for an eight-point victory.

The Leopard bench scored 29 points in the second half to trigger the comeback effort.

La Verne will begin its regular season Tuesday, November 16 when the squad travels to Orange to face Chapman University at 7:00 pm.