Westmont’s men’s basketball team took over sole possession of first place in the Golden State Athletic Conference with a 60-58 at Fresno Pacific (12-8, 3-6 GSAC) on Tuesday night.
With the win, Westmont improves to 15-3 overall and 7-2 in GSAC play. At the midway point of the GSAC season, Westmont is currently one game ahead of three teams that are tied for second place – #10 The Master’s, #16 Azusa Pacific and #18 Concordia.
The Warriors struggled in the first half, falling behind 25-10 with five and one-half minutes to play before the break. With two minutes to play, Fresno Pacific still led by 14 points (29-15). However, a 7-0 run over the final minute and 45 seconds cut the Sunbirds’ advantage to seven points (29-22) at intermission.
“We needed to cut (Fresno Pacific’s lead) down before halftime to within 10,” said John Moore about the late first-half rally. “To come out in the second half with the energy we did allowed us to make it a ball game.”
Westmont came out firing in the second half, producing a 16-5 run with 13 points coming from Cooper Damron (17 points, 7 rebounds).
“A big portion of the turnaround in the second half was that we pushed the ball and got some fast break layups,” said Moore. “Cooper Damron was a big part of that – running the floor extremely hard – as was Brendan Hill finding him. We were attacking the rim and getting easy shots. When Fresno Pacific is in their zone it is very difficult to get easy shots. So when you break you don’t have to play against the zone. Cooper was able to do that. We got stops on the defensive end. We were able to get longer rebounds and attack out of that.”
Down 38-34 with 14:03 remaining in the first half, the Sunbirds scored the next four points to tie the game at 38. Westmont’s Nate Gibbs (4 points, 3 rebounds) responded with a layup and Landon Boucher drained a three to put the Warriors ahead 43-38 with 11:28 remaining in regulation.
Over the next eight and one-half minutes, the Warriors maintained at least a two-point advantage. With 2:40 remaining, however, Kenny Bradford (11 points, 3 assists) scored from beyond the arc to pull the Sunbirds to within one (52-51). A layup by C.J. Miller (12 points, 8 rebounds) was matched by Eric Hipolito (14 points, 6 rebounds), making the score 54-52 with 1:47 left.
One minute later, Preston Branson (15 points) connected on two free throws, but Hipolito laid the ball in the basket again just 10 seconds later, making the score 56-55 in favor of the Warriors. Miller scored again on the Warriors’ next possession and then collected a rebound after Bradford missed on a three-point attempt.
With eight seconds remaining, Jordan Sachs (9 points, 5 rebounds) drained two more free throws, putting Westmont up 60-55. With one second left, Bradford connected from downtown to account for the final score, but it was too late to keep the Warriors from the win.
“If Jordan or Preston have the ball in their hands late and get fouled, I just count those points going up on the board,” said Moore about the game-clinching performance from the charity stripe. “Landon Boucher and Nate Gibbs have also won games for us at the free throw line.
“I thought Brendan Hill had another nice game as a starter with six assists,” continued Moore. “I thought the defensive player of the game was T.J. Lipold. He played against one of the finest players in our conference in Donte Nicholas (8 points, 9 assists, 4 rebounds) and held him down in the second half.”
In other GSAC games, #10 The Master’s (14-6, 6-3), which entered the game tied with the Warriors for first place, fell 77-63 at #16 Azusa Pacific (16-4, 6-3). Number 18 Concordia (16-4, 6-3) narrowly defeated Point Loma Nazarene (12-6, 5-4) in San Diego by a score of 79-76. Vanguard (13-7, 5-4) picked up an 84-66 home victory over Hope International (9-7, 2-7) and Biola (14-7, 5-4) escaped El Cajon with a 62-60 win over San Diego Christian (5-11, 1-8)
“It’s nice to round the halfway point in first place by ourselves,” said Moore. “Now the target is on our back.”
The Warriors return to Murchison Gymnasium on Saturday to host Point Loma Nazarene. The Sea Lions are two games behind the Warriors in a tie for fifth place in the GSAC standings with Vanguard.
