Orange, CA - The Oberlin college men's basketball team struggled to find its offensive rhythm, dropping a 62-54 decision to the University of La Verne on Tuesday afternoon the Hutton Sports Center on the campus of Chapman University.

The Yeomen shot a season-low 25.4-percent (17-of-67) from the floor, which included a subpar 3-of-27 (11.1%) showing from beyond the 3-point arc.

Miles Gueno led the Yeomen with 12 points, while Matt Walker matched a season-high with 10 points and a career-best nine rebounds in the setback. Jack Poyle also added 10, marking his eighth game of the season in double-figures.

La Verne opened the game on an 11-4 spurt that featured two threes from Cruz Mertens. Oberlin came out hoisting from long range as 11 of the team's first 15 shots were from beyond the arc, but unfortunately Oberlin connected on just three of them during the stretch.

The Yeomen weathered a poor-shooting half (6-of-30) and went into the locker room down 12, 34-22. Oberlin triggered a first-half season-high 17 3-pointers, but ended the stanza with just the three makes.

After the slow start, Oberlin worked its way back into the game as one of Poyle's two first-half triple-hits made it 15-10 at the 13:30 mark. After going down by as many as 12, the Yeomen cut the deficit to just six on another Poyle jumper with 2:18 left in the session, but the Leopards closed the frame with a 6-0 run of their own.

The Yeomen came out hot to start the second half, using a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to five, 34-29. The Leopards would later extend their cushion back out to 14, 48-34, but Oberlin would not go away quietly.

The Yeomen continued to fight, getting within seven on multiple occasions down the stretch. They eventually cut it to six, 54-48, on Gueno's putback layup with 3:13 left on the clock, but it wasn't enough to complete the comeback.

The Leopards shot 38.6-percent (22-of-57) in the win, which included an impressive 7-of-14 effort from 3-point range. La Verne's Hakim Arnold led all scorers with 17 points. The Leos evened their record at 4-4, while the Yeomen dropped to 5-6 on the season.

The Yeomen will conclude their California swing on Friday, January 2 at Cal Tech. Tip-time is set for 3 p.m. PST/ 6 p.m. EST.