Westmont Men’s Basketball (18-7, 10-6 GSAC) claimed their fourth win in a row – the last two against ranked opponents – as the Warriors defeated No. 4 Biola (23-3, 13-3 GSAC) 75-70 in La Mirada on Tuesday night in a thrilling Golden State Athletic Conference game. After going 0-4 from beyond the arc in the first half, senior guard Matt LeDuc posted 16 second-half points while going five for five from three-point range.
“You always want your seniors to have a part of the last chance that they have to play at Biola,” said Westmont Head Coach John Moore. “As I said to them before the game, ‘You will remember this last game at Biola. You will have a tendency to remember it longer if you play well.’ They played well enough to beat a very, very good team that has only lost two times all season long. They led at halftime and came out and never gave up the lead in the second half. I thought they played superb basketball both offensively and defensively.
“Matt took two big charges and hit all those threes. John (Miller) took two big charges. CJ (Chris Jackson) was tremendous defensively but more importantly he hit shots in the first half that forced Biola to have to guard us. Andrew made free throws down the stretch that closed out the game. All four of our seniors played very, very well.”
Blake Bender led the Warriors with 17 points and had five rebounds, Dan Rasp added 14 points and five boards, and Chris Jackson recorded a double-double of 10 points and 12 assists.
“Blake was so good,” said Moore. “He had to guard their most critical three-point shooter. Danny Campbell hit a couple of threes late, but aside from that Blake had him very frustrated.”
After falling behind 14-7 in the first nine minutes of the game, the Warriors put together a 9-2 run in less than a two-minute span to tie the game at 16. Freshman guard Preston Branson (7 points) scored on two jumpers inside the arc and one from the outside to fuel the run. The rest of the half remained close, but a dunk and a three-pointer by Rasp together with a Bender layup, help the Warriors take a 33-29 lead into the locker room at intermission.
“Preston had all seven of his points in the first half and played like he was an upper classman,” said Moore. “He made critical play after critical play.”
In the second half, the Warriors extended their margin to eight points on a three-pointer by Andrew Schmalbach (7 points, 3 rebounds) that made the score 42-34 with 15:15 to play. But the Eagles cut the lead to two with a 6-0 run.
With 12:30 remaining, LeDuc drained the first of his treys to put the Warriors up by five. Biola brought the ball up the court and Campbell (14 points) drove for the basket. But Miller drew a charge to put the ball back in Warrior hands. Back down on the other end of the court, LeDuc scored from three-point range again and the Warriors were back on top by eight (48-40).
Again, the Eagles brought the ball down the court and for the second possession in a row Miller took another charge, this time against David Cline (4 points). Branson missed a jumper on the Warriors’ next possession but Miller got the rebound and the put-back to complete the 8-0 run and give Westmont the only double-digit lead of the game (50-40) with 11:03 remaining.
Over the next four and one half minutes, LeDuc would drain two more three-pointers to help keep the Warriors just out of reach of the Eagles. Biola made 60% of their shots in the second half (18-30) as they continued to lurk just behind Westmont.
With one minute to play, Westmont held a seven point lead (65-58). Biola’s Rocky Hamption (18 points, 11 rebounds) cut the lead to five with a jumper in the paint with 51 seconds to play. Andrew Schmalbach was fouled one second later but missed the front end of a one-and-one. Biola’s Josh Miller (5 points, 9 boards) grabbed the rebound and rifled the ball to Campbell who drained a three-pointer to pull Biola within two (65-63) with 44 seconds remaining. Three seconds later, Schmalbach, an 81.3% free throw shooter, was fouled again. This time, Schmalbach drained both of the one-and-one attempts to restore a four-point margin (67-63) with 41 seconds to go.
Six seconds later, Marlon King drove the lane and completed a layup to once again to make it a two-point game (67-65). With 27 seconds to play, Schmalbach was fouled again and once more, he delivered both ends of a one-and-one to keep Biola four back.
The Eagles failed to score on their next possession and this time it was Bender who was fouled and sent to the line to shoot two. He made both attempts and Westmont found itself up by six (71-65) with 17 ticks left. But the Eagles were not done. Hampton hit a jumper and the Eagles were within four again with nine seconds showing on the clock. Jackson was fouled one second later and he also made both free throws.
Still, the Eagles weren’t giving up. With four seconds remaining, Campbell struck from beyond the arc for a second time to make it a one possession game. Bender was again fouled with only one second showing on the clock. The forward stepped to the line and drained both free throw attempts to ensure the Warrior win. In the final minute of play, the Warriors made 10 of 11 attempts from the charity stripe to seal the victory.
With four more games remaining in the GSAC schedule, the Warriors find themselves tied for fourth place with #16 Azusa Pacific (17-9, 10-6 GSAC) which lost to Fresno Pacific tonight 85-75. Fresno Pacific sits in third place with a record of 21-5, 11-5 GSAC). Both Fresno Pacific and Azusa Pacific will come to Murchison Gymnasium to match up with the Warriors one more time. Victories against those teams would help the Warriors earn a top-four finish in the conference standings and, therefore, a first round home game in the upcoming GSAC Postseason Tournament.
“We invited former player Kevin Bartell into the locker room after the game,” said Moore. “He said, ‘This one means a lot, but it will mean more if you can play just the way you did tonight in the next game you play. You have an opportunity to step into the all-important spot of finishing fourth our higher.”
Next up for the Warriors, however, is a home game against Point Loma Nazarene, which at 8-17 overall and 5-12 in conference, is fighting for its post-season life. The Warriors will host the Sea Lions on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Fans should plan to arrive early to honor the four seniors on Senior Night.
