The San Bernardino Valley College men's basketball team ran out to an early lead, sputtered out of the gate in the second half, but picked up the pace late to knock off College of the Desert 88-63 Friday night at SBVC.

It was the Wolverines' 14th consecutive victory, clinching a third straight Pacific Coast Athletic Conference North Division title.  

The Wolverines led by 20 points at the half, and seemed ready to run away with an easy victory. But the Roadrunners came out with a pressure defense to start the second half, allowing Desert to chip away at that lead. COD's commitment to defense - paired with some foul trouble for the Wolverines - allowed Desert to get back as close as 12 points at the midway point of the second half - causing some of the SBVC faithful to get nervous.

But SBVC found a way to beat the press, quickly going down the floor and expanding their lead into a comfortable margin again, and they were able to make their free throws down the stretch to put the game away.

K'Lon Williams, who was the target on second half breakouts, led the Wolverines with 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting. Roman Silva had 17 - shooting 5-of-7 from the field and hitting 7-of-8 free throws. And Damani Washington made 8-of-10 from the field for 16 points. As a team, the Wolverines made 63.5 percent of their shots on the night. Nathan Pendarvisadded nine points and 13 assists in the victory.

Desert's Sam Skipper was the game's leading scorer, with 21 points.

SBVC finishes regular season play with a game Tuesday at Mt. San Jacinto before closing the season at home against MiraCosta at 7 p.m. Thursday.