Multiple players left the court, blood dripping from their faces, in Murchinson Gym on Saturday night as Point Loma beat Westmont 82-68 in a rough-and-tumble game that knocked the Warriors out of sole possession of first place in GSAC play.
Westmont falls to 7-3 in conference. Azusa Pacific, The Master’s, and Concordia are also all 7-3 after winning Saturday night. Point Loma improves to 6-4.
“We had to guard them. They are a good team; they have ten starters and come at you in waves,” said Point Loma assistant coach Jordan Courneya.
In the second half elbows were being thrown and fouls were climbing as the teams fought for the upper hand.
Things became so intense out on the floor that Point Loma’s Jake Johnston left the floor, blood dripping from his forehead, after a block from Westmont player Cooper Damron.
Damron was whistled for a flagrant foul and Rhett Beal put away both free throws, making the score 48-40, as Johnston was treated on the bench.
“Jake has a gash about an inch wide and probably will need some stitches,” Courneya said.
Not long after Johnston left the floor, Joshua Richardson of Point Loma got an elbow in the face causing his nose to bleed. The play after, Damron fell to the floor holding his ankle. He would not return to the game.
Westmont had a flash of hope as Preston Branson stole the ball right underneath the basket and scored. Branson then knocked in a three pointer and fell to the floor for the foul, which he made for 51-57.
Despite their efforts, Westmont could not stop Point Loma.
“We got killed on their second chance shots: free throws and layups. We can’t win a game like that,” said Westmont’s Nate Gibbs.
Near the end, Gibbs stole the ball, slapping it away from the in-bounder and converting the layup to make it 77-66. Point Loma answered back with a slam dunk by Todd Campbell and a lay-up by Campbell as well.
“When you are down by so much you want to hurry and get the quickest shot, and sometimes the quickest shot is not the best shot,” said Gibbs.
Beal, who made 22-of-24 free throws in the game, finished with 29 points for Point Loma.
For Westmont, Preston Branson and Damron Cooper each had 13 points while Jordan Sachs added 10 more.
