Just when it looked like Westmont College was going to turn things around on Wednesday night at Kammerer Court, the shooting blues resurfaced in a 70-60 loss to Azusa Pacific.
Dan Rasp had eight points and seven rebounds in the first half, when the Warriors built a 33-26 lead. The Cougars, ranked 16th in the NAIA, took control with a 17-2 blitz to open the second half. Mike Caffese had three of his six steals during that run and Azusa (14-6, 7-3) took a 43-35 advantage on a three-point play by Kimarly Williams.
Williams scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half. Dominque Johnson led all scorers with 18 points while Dave Burgess collected 11 points and 11 rebounds, helping the Cougars to their fifth straight win over Westmont.
It was also the third straight home loss for the Warriors (11-8, 5-5), who finish the first half of GSAC play in a three-way tie for sixth place. Fresno Pacific beat The Master’s 92-68 to improve to 10-0. They lead second-place Azusa by three games.
After hitting nearly 45 percent in the first half, Westmont was outshot 54.8 to 37.5 percent in the second half. The Cougars outscored the home team 44-27 after intermission.
Westmont committed 19 turnovers, compared to nine for the Cougars, and lost despite a 43-32 rebounding advantage.
“We were in a five-way tie for third and we really needed to win this one,” said Blake Bender, who drained 6-of-8 off the bench and led the Warriors with 12 points and six rebounds. “We always talk about cherishing the home court and tonight, we didn’t do that.”
Rasp had 11 points and eight boards for Westmont but only made 4 of 14 field goals. The 6-6 sophomore didn’t get his first field goal until 6:14 before halftime and only had one basket in the second half — a layup with three minutes to go that trimmed the deficit to 62-54.
“In the first half, we did a great job defensively (holding Azusa to 33.3 percent shooting),” said Warrior coach John Moore. “I thought our intensity and defensive energy were great. In the second half, it wasn’t quite the same.”
Westmont fell behind by nine, 48-39, before putting together an 11-2 run that shaved Azusa’s lead to two, 52-50, with 7:44 to play. Ryan Aijian started the run with a 3-pointer and Bender scored six points, capped by an amazing layup from the hip as he was fallilng down. He was fouled but missed the free throw.
Azusa came back with a 10-2 run of its own, sparked by six straight from Burgess, to boost the margin to 10 at 62-52 with 3:33 remaining.
“The first five minutes of the second half really hurt us,” noted Moore. “Then we cut it to two and they went on another run. It was a game of momentum and streaks — with Azusa it typically is — and you just hope you have more streaks than they do.”
Tyler Dutton, one of two seniors on the Warrior roster, hit only 1-8 from the field and missed all four of his 3-point tries, as did Bobby Fenske. The Warriors were 3-15 from downtown while Azusa was 5-18.
“We had a rough night, things weren’t falling,” said Dutton. “It was just one of those nights. We need to be more aggressive, forget the last play and move on to the next one.”
After winning their first six games on the new Kammerer Court, the Warriors have dropped their last three.
“We were missing some chippies,” said Moore. “It’s tough to beat a good team when you have twice as many turnovers (19) as assists (9) and you don’t shoot it well.
“It’s so important to do well at home in this league. When you lose three in a row against three quality teams, it makes you wonder whether you can beat the next quality team that comes onto your court.
“It’s just plugging away, one step at a time. I think this is a very good team. I’ve said that a number of times and we don’t look like a very good team, losing three of our last four, but I still have a lot of confidence in them.”
The Warriors play three of the next four on the road, starting Saturday with a 7:30 p.m. game at San Diego Christian.
