After a meteoric rise to No. 14 in this week’s national rankings, the Westmont men’s basketball team came crashing back down to earth on Saturday night, losing its second game in a row and first at home this season in a 72-64 defeat by Point Loma Nazarene.
The loss snaps a 10-game winning streak at Murchison Gym and now the Warriors (10-6, 4-3 GSAC) – after a 4-1 start and sole possession of second place in GSAC play – fall into a logjam of 4-3 teams called the Golden State Athletic Conference standings.
With the victory, Point Loma (12-6, 5-3) sneaks a half a game ahead of the Warriors. Concordia, The Master’s, Cal Baptist, Azusa Pacific and Westmont are all 4-3.
“That was the worst part, getting ranked 14th after a couple big wins and then turning around and losing two in a row,” said Westmont guard Andrew Schmalbach, knowing that the Warriors host the conference’s No. 1 team in Fresno Pacific on Tuesday.
Schmalbach had 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting with three steals. Dan Rasp had game-highs with 18 points and 5 assists.
“Very, very disheartening loss,” said head coach John Moore, pointing to the final three minutes of the first half as the difference in the game.
The Warriors started well enough, jumping out to a 30-17 lead approaching halftime.
Point Loma closed the half with a 13-2 run that turned a double-digit lead into a 32-30 halftime score, changing the game’s landscape dramatically.
“We did not handle that stretch. If we handle that stretch then they’re playing catchup the whole second half,” lamented Moore.
Instead, it was only a two-point game. There were seven ties in the second half before the Sea Lions took the lead for good on a Curtis Carlson layup with seven minutes to go.
Carlson posted a double-double for Point Loma, scoring 12 points and pulling down 13 rebounds.
“We got a tough one on Tuesday against Fresno and they’re a great team so we have to prepare on Monday and do all we can to get ready for them,” said Rasp of the country’s No. 8 team. “Just come out with a bunch of energy like we started this game and play well all 40 minutes and not drop another one at home.”
