The Park University Gilbert men's basketball team poor shooting doomed them in a 58-52 loss to La Sierra in Riverside, Calif., this evening. The Bucs fall to 5-5 overall and 2-2 in Cal Pac play. LSU picks up its second win of the season, both in conference.

A sloppy shooting first half saw the Buccaneers jump out to an early seven-point lead (13-6) as their offense was smooth and they were knocking down shots. All of a sudden the lid went on the basket and the Eagles went on a 13-3 run to take a 19-16 advantage.

The Bucs responded and closed the half on a 9-3 run of their own to take a three-point lead 25-22 into the intermission.

Park shot 30 percent from the floor, while LSU was even worse at 26 percent. The Bucs saving grace was making 4 three-point shots to only one for the Eagles. Park also struggled at the line shooting 50 percent (3-6) while La Sierra went 5-6 from the charity stripe.

DJ Frye led the team with eight points, and Caleb Ivy had six points on two made three-pointers. LC Ballard, the Bucs leading scorer was held scoreless in the half.

Ballard would be the jump starter for the Buccaneer offense in the second half scoring five of the Bucs first seven points as the increased the lead to six in the first five minutes of the half.

But the Bucs would go cold again as LSU would go on a 9-2 run to take the lead at 38-36. From there, the Eagles would extend their lead to five (43-38) before the Bucs closed the deficit to two at the second media timeout.

The Bucs would tie it out of the time out but LSU would score eight unanswered points to take the advantage heading into the last two minutes.

The Bucs would cut the lead to four and got a stop with under a minute, but an errant pass stymied their momentum and forced the Bucs to have to foul.

La Sierra was just as poor as Park from the field, but they won this game at the free throw line. The Eagles went to the line 24 times and made 21 of them. The Bucs had eight fewer attempts and eight fewer makes with ended up being the difference in the game. The Eagles made all of the free throws down the stretch and walked away with a six point win.

Park finished shooting 29 percent from the floor, while LSU shot 28 percent. The Bucs also made one more three-pointer (5-4).

Terrance Ward led the team with 11 points. DJ Frye and Evan Hoosier each had 10. Hoosier had his second double-double of the season as the added 13 rebounds. Frye had nine boards and three assists.  

Park Gilbert has a week off before returning to California next week to play two non-conference games at Whittier College on Thursday, December 14 and the University of La Verne on Friday, December 15.