Preston Branson scored 24 points and Dan Rasp added 19 as Westmont Men’s Basketball squeaked out a 98-92 double-overtime road victory against Northwest (Wash.) on Friday night. Junior TJ Lipold (14 points, 6 rebounds) nailed a three-point buzzer beater in regulation to tie the game at 71 and send it into overtime. Westmont improves to 2-0 on the season while Northwest, the sixteenth ranked team in NAIA Division II, fell to 1-1.
“Preston took the game over,” said Westmont head coach John Moore. “He looked like the best player on the floor on either team. He went hard to the rim, made big shot after big shot and was very confident. The amazing thing about it is that he was sick to his stomach all day today.
“It was an early season game that wasn’t played especially well by other team. But it was an exciting game and a lot of fun to watch,” said John Moore. “We lost the game about 30 times, fortunately they lost it 31.”
The game was close throughout regulation with neither team achieving more than an eight-point advantage. With 28 seconds remaining in the second half, Branson scored on a lay-up to pull the Warriors to within four points (69-65). Moore called a timeout, and the Warriors emerged from their huddle ready to foul their opponents in order to get the ball back. Branson fouled Daley Landon, who promptly missed two free throws. Niko Brooks drove the floor for a lay-up and converted the free throw awarded on a foul to get the Warriors to within one point (69-68).
Again, Westmont was forced to foul and this time Brooks fouled Rich Skillman with 10 seconds to play. Skillman also missed both free throws, but managed to snag the rebound and make a layup to give Northwest a three-point lead (71-68) with eight seconds to remaining.
The Warriors brought the ball up the court quickly, and Lipold put an off-balanced three-point attempt threw the rim at the buzzer to extend the contest.
“TJ was clutch,” said Moore simply. “We had a lot of clutch performances, none greater that TJ Lipold on the three-pointer to take in into overtime. Jordan Sachs made many free throws that were necessary for us to keep the game going. Brendon Hill only made one basket, but it was one that allowed us to stretch the lead a little bit.”
In the first overtime period, Jordan Sachs began to make his presence felt. In the game because both Brooks and Branson had fouled out (along with Blake Bender and Matthew Hornbuclke), Sachs scored four of the Warriors nine points in the first extra frame. Lipold made another three-pointer and Rasp sunk a jumper to account for the rest of the scoring in the first overtime period. But it wasn’t enough as Northwest scored the same amount, resulting in an 80-80 tie after the extra five-minutes of play.
In the second overtime period, Sachs made nine of ten free throw attempts. Rasp drained a three from downtown and Lipold and Brendan Hill each contributed jumpers as the Warriors outpaced the Eagles 18-12 to bring an end to the contest.
“Jordan Sachs and Benny Hill, who don’t typically give us a lot of minutes, played with a lot of poise in the first and second overtime,” said Moore.
The Warriors will not have much time to recuperate from tonight’s extra play. On Saturday, the Warriors will take on Evergreen State (Wash.) in a 7:30 p.m. match.
