Senior guard Tyler Dutton put up 17 points and sophomore center Evan Haines added 13 points and five rebounds, but the Warriors could not keep pace with #18 Azusa Pacific (21-9, 14-6) on Monday night in the Cougars’ Felix Events Center. The 84-62 loss dropped Westmont’s record to 16-13 overall and 10-10 in conference action but did not effect the Warriors’ sixth place finish in the Golden State Athletic Conference standings.
The Warriors stayed close to the Cougars through the first eleven and one-half minutes, trailing by just a single point (19-18). But a 12-0 Azusa run provided the Cougars a double-digit lead which Westmont was unable to overcome. By halftime, the Warriors were down by 16 points, 40-24. In the second half, Westmont narrowed the gap to 12 points on two occasions, but could get no closer.
Azusa Pacific was led by Dave Burgess who scored 22 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Dominique Johnson added another 14 points for the Cougars.
Azusa Pacific earned the number three seed in the GSAC Tournament. As the number six seed, Westmont will return to Azusa on Thursday for a first round match-up with the Cougars. Tip off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
In other GSAC action, #8 Fresno Pacific (24-6, 17-3) lost their second straight game, falling at The Master’s (16-14, 8-12) by a score of 75-70. #11 Concordia (25-5, 16-4) traveled to San Diego Christian (10-19, 5-15) and picked up a 77-67 victory. Biola (22-8, 13-7) notched a 51-39 win over Hope International (4-24, 1-19) and California Baptist (21-8, 12-8) defeated Vanguard (7-22, 6-14) in overtime by an 85-81 margin.
Fresno Pacific, the number one seed in the GSAC tournament, will host Point Loma Nazarene (15-15, 8-12) on Thursday while second-seed Concordia will welcome The Master’s to Irvine. Biola, which earned the number four seed, will play host to California Baptist.
The semifinals will be played on Saturday, March 7 with the highest remaining seed playing the lowest remaining seed. The championship game will be on Tuesday March 10. Both semifinal games and the championship game will be played at Azusa Pacific.
