Murchison Gymnasium was still buzzing with energy when Westmont Men’s Basketball took the floor for their first GSAC action of the year. Westmont Women’s Basketball had just defeated the women of #1 ranked Azusa Pacific in dramatic fashion, coming back from a 13-point second half deficit to win 68-64, and the Westmont Men hoped to make it a sweep as they faced off against the #9 ranked Azusa Pacific Men.
Tyler Monroe and the Cougars, however, made it their business to ensure a different outcome and secured a 71-50 victory for Azusa Pacific.
Robert Sandoval, one of four Cougars entering the game averaging double figures in points scored, got things started with a three pointer, and APU held the lead until Preston Branson sank a three of his own to put the Warriors up 9-7 with 16:12 to go in the first half. Neither Branson’s shot nor Sandoval’s opening trey was a sign of things to come for the rest of the first half, as both teams shot poorly from downtown in the opening period (Azusa 2 for 11; Westmont 3 for 13).
Azusa retook the lead with 3:24 to go when Tyler Monroe followed a missed three-point attempt for a lay-up. Westmont went into intermission only down by five, 30-25, but Monroe’s lay-up, which was the second and last lead change of not only the first half, but also the game, foreshadowed the story of the second act.
Monroe threw down a one-handed dunk on the first play of the second half to extend the Cougar lead to seven. Monroe was just getting started, and the Cougars never looked back. Monroe followed his dunk by sinking a fade-away jumper and then a lay-up on the Cougars’ next two possessions, prompting Westmont to call a timeout with 17:50 to go.
Coming out of the timeout, Branson hit a three to pull Westmont within seven, but Monroe promptly and emphatically responded with a two-handed jam over two Westmont defenders, his third dunk of the game. Monroe accounted for all eight of Azusa’s first eight points in the second half.
Whatever trouble Azusa had in the first half establishing the low post game was duly righted by Monroe in the second half. Westmont Coach John Moore commented, “They decided to pound it inside a little bit against us and I thought [Monroe] looked like a man out there. He was really tough. We were intending to double and we weren’t able to do that as effectively as we wanted to. I liked how hard our guys played out there, but we just weren’t able to execute very well.”
With 14:49 left in the game, Nate Gibbs hit a baseline jumper for Westmont, cutting the deficit to 40-34, but that was as close as the Warriors would get the rest of the game. The night belonged to Monroe and the Cougars, a point Monroe reiterated when, despite getting fouled, he made a lay-up off of a lob, and proceeded to complete the three-point play, putting Azusa up by twelve, 46-34.
Westmont just could not find any momentum. When it began to look like the Warriors might be able to put together a run, their shooting woes continued. Azusa finished the game easily, and when the buzzer sounded, they were sitting on their largest lead of the game, 71-50.
Monroe had a double-double for the Cougars with 21 points and 13 rebounds, while Anthony Johnson and Justin Haynes contributed 17 and 10 points respectively. Branson led the Warriors with 17 points. The Warriors shot 33.9 percent from the field, including 5 for 27 (18.5%) from beyond the arc.
“I think we shot a few too many threes in the first half,” Moore said, “and a lot of them were uncontested, so it’s very, very tempting to shoot those threes, and that continued in the second half. Almost half of our shots were threes, and when you shoot 18 percent from the three-point line at home, you’re going to struggle a bit.
In contrast, the Cougars bounced back from a horrendous first half from the field, and shot 53.8% in the second half, going 14 for 26, including 3 for 6 from three.
The Warriors will try to bounce back when they play next on the road at Point Loma Nazarene . Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30pm.
