Westmont Men’s Basketball (19-8, 11-7 GSAC), ranked at No. 21 in the NAIA, fell in the final regular season game of the Golden State Athletic Conference schedule to No. 24 Azusa Pacific (23-7, 12-6) by a score of 77-69.
The loss drops the Warriors from a tie for second to fifth place in the GSAC standings.
As a result, Westmont will return to Azusa Pacific on Thursday, March 1 to open GSAC Tournament play as the number five seed. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
“I’d much rather play at home,” said Westmont head coach John Moore. “We are the odd team out and it is very disappointing for us to be the case. We will lick our wounds this evening and then we will gear up for coming back down here to Azusa. Our guys will be very well prepared.”
The Warriors jumped out to an early 19-11 lead with C.J. Miller accounting for 12 of the Warriors 19 points. But Azusa Pacific rattled off nine points to take the lead. By halftime, the Cougars led 35-30.
APU extended their lead in the second half, but never by more than 11 points. Westmont pulled to within four (71-67) with 49 seconds remaining, but could get no closer.
“We had trouble getting defensive stops at key times, but we played good enough defense to put us in a position to give us the opportunity to cut it to one in the in the final minute,” said Moore. “We just couldn’t get that last shot to fall.”
Preston Branson led all players in scoring with 24 points. Miller tallied 18 points and seven rebounds. Nate Gibbs contributed nine points and three boards.
“Preston and C.J. once again led us,” said Moore. “We needed to find a third scorer on the offensive end but weren’t able to do that.”
Concordia (24-6, 13-5) will be the number one seed in the GSAC Tournament and will host eighth-seeded Fresno Pacific (15-15, 6-12). Point Loma Nazarene (19-8, 12-6) will host seven seed Vanguard (15-14, 7-11). The third seed, Biola (22-8, 12-6) will play host to The Master’s (17-13, 9-9) which is the number six seed.
Both semifinal games will be played next Saturday, March 3 at the site of the highest remaining seed. The championship game will be played on Tuesday, March 6.
