Sophomore forward Dan Rasp scored a career-high 29 points and pulled down five rebounds to lead Westmont men’s basketball to an 82-67 win over The Master’s in Santa Clarita on Saturday night. Junior guard Matt LeDuc added another 16 points to help Westmont to its seventh straight victory.
“It was a team win,” noted Westmont head coach John Moore. We played very good basketball with all 11 players pulling down at least one rebound.”
The Warriors (10-4, 4-1 GSAC) never trailed in the game. With the score tied at six, Westmont produced a 12-2 run to take an 18-8 lead with 14:35 to play in the first half. By halftime, the Warriors increased the margin to 15, taking a 42-27 lead into the locker room. Westmont shot 57.1% in the first half while holding The Master’s to 36.0%.
“Our defense was stellar,” noted Moore. “We only made one three tonight and yet we won going away.”
A 14-3 run by the Warriors in the second half extended Westmont’s lead to 26 (64-38) with 9:21 to play. Westmont posted its largest lead of 28 points on a dunk by Rasp with 7:09 remaining in the game. LeDuc scored 10 of his sixteen points in the second half.
A major difference in the game was free throw percentage. The Warriors made 27 of 34 (79.4%) from the charity stripe while the Mustangs converted just 14 of 32 (43.8%).
The Master’s (11-4, 3-2) was led by senior forward Jeremy Haggerty who made 10 of 14 from the field on his way to a 25-point performance. He also pulled down nine rebounds.
In other GSAC action, Azusa Pacific (10-5, 3-2) defeated visiting Point Loma Nazarene (10-6, 3-3) by a score of 70-50. #14 Fresno Pacific (12-3, 5-0) took to the road to defeat Hope International (3-9, 0-5) by a score of 82-70. #4 Concordia (12-3, 3-2) traveled to #20 California Baptist (11-3, 2-3) where they were handed a 77-66 loss. Biola (11-4, 2-3 GSAC) defeated San Diego Christian (6-8, 1-4) by a 56-50 score in El Cajon.
Westmont now holds sole possession of second place in the conference standings, one game behind Fresno Pacific and one game ahead of Concordia, The Master’s and Azusa Pacific.
The Warriors will travel to La Mirada on Biola on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
