Junior Blake Bender scored 36 points and made 15 of 22 field goals (.682) to lead the Warriors to a 80-70 win over Carroll (Mont.) at the Westminster Thanksgiving Classic in Salt Lake City Utah. Bender also tallied seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. The Warriors improved to 4-0 on the season while Carroll fell to 5-2.
“Blake Bender had a special night,” said Westmont Head Coach John Moore. “He was superb out there. On a night when Evan (Haines) and Dan (Rasp) didn’t have quite the games they are accustomed to having, Blake came through with flying colors.”
The point total is the most scored by a Warrior since Noel Matthews scored 36 against Southern California College (now Vanguard University) on January 13, 1990. Matthews, and now Bender, tied John Crew for twelfth place on the single game scoring list.
Crew, who played for the Warriors in the 1950s, achieved 36 points three times and also posted single game totals of 45, 41, 40 and 39. Tine Hardeman still holds the single game record of 46 points which he set against Chapman during the 1954-55 season.
“Carroll went up by 14 (24-10) in the first half and we came back and cut it to two at half time (39-37),” reported Moore. “The person who brought us back was Blake Bender.”
Bender scored 17 points in the final ten minutes of the first half to fuel the Warriors comeback.
Twenty-five seconds into the second half, Bender scored again to tie the game at 39-all. Matt LeDuc, who started in place of an ailing Andrew Schmalbach, nailed one of his three long-range baskets to give Westmont its first lead in more than 19 minutes. Bender then completed a 10-0 run by scoring on a free throw and two field goals. The Warriors did not surrender the lead again.
LeDuc, was three for three from beyond the arc for the Warriors. Schmalbach came into the game off the bench to contribute 12 points while shooting three for six from the field.
“We also had good play out of CJ (Chris Jackson) with eight points and four rebounds,” said Moore.
Dan Rasp added nine points, seven rebounds and three assists while Evan Haines contributed six points, eight rebounds and five assists.
On Saturday, the Warriors will take on the host Griffins from Westminster who are ranked at number nine in the NAIA preseason poll. Westminster (3-4) fell to College of Idaho by a score of 55-52 in the second game on Friday.
