SAN MARCOS, Calif. — Westmont Men’s Basketball (9-1) shot 73.9 percent from the field in the second half (17 of 23) to defeat John Brown of Arkansas (11-2) on Tuesday night at the Cal State San Marcos Holiday Classic by a score of 77-68.
“It felt like a good NAIA Tournament type game,” said Westmont head coach John Moore. “Both teams executed well. It was a nice win for the Warriors.”
Senior guard Preston Branson was scoreless until the final two and one-half minutes of the first half, then produced eight points in the rest of the opening frame. He added 18 in the second half to lead the #5 Warriors in scoring with 26 points. He made 11 of 18 from the floor, including three of four from three-point range.
Senior forward Cooper Damron made nine for eleven field goal attempts, scoring 20 points while pulling down 10 rebounds. Junior forward C.J. Miller added 15 points and six rebounds.
John Brown was led in scoring by Max Hopfgartner (16 points, 12 rebounds) and Coleson Rakestraw (13 points, 7 rebounds).
The Warriors jumped out to a 7-3 lead before falling victim to a 13-2 run by the Golden Eagles. With 5:43 remaining in the first half, Westmont caught John Brown on a three-pointer by Miller, giving the Warriors a 25-24 lead.
John Brown responded with an 8-1 run to go up 33-26 with 3:17 to play. That’s when Branson caught fire.
After stealing the ball from the Golden Eagle’s D’Shon Taylor (11 points, 6 rebounds), Branson scored his first points on a layup. The next time down the court, Branson nailed a three-pointer to make the score 33-31 with 1:59 remaining on the clock.
After Taylor made one of two free throw attempts, Branson struck again from beyond the arc to tie the game at 34 at halftime.
Senior guard Nico Brooks (5 points, 4 assists) opened the scoring in the second half, however the Eagles regained the lead (37-36) with a three-pointer by Abel Galliguez (9 points). Westmont followed with a 12-2 run, putting the Warriors up 49-39 with 13:59 remaining in regulation. Miller scored on two layups during the run while Branson scored three times, including his third from three-point range.
“Coach Azain gets a lot of credit,” said Moore. “He called for a zone in the second half, which is something we have only been working on for three or four days. They struggled against our one-two-two zone, which we played the whole second half. It feels good to have another weapon in our arsenal.”
The Golden Eagles cut the Warrior advantage to six on a couple of free throws by Kurtis Phillips (4 points, 5 rebounds) and a jumper by Joseph Pelegreen. However, Westmont scored the next seven points on a layup by Jason Ritchey (6 points), a free throw by Damron, a layup by Branson and a dunk by Damron.
That stretch gave the Warriors a 56-43 advantage with 12:03 remaining in regulation. The Golden Eagles would get no closer than six points the rest of the way.
“Cooper had a very nice second half,” said Moore. “I thought he played about as well as he could have for about a ten minute stretch in which we developed that 13-point lead. C.J. took three charges. Aside from fouling out, I thought he had a very nice game.”
On Wednesday night, the Warriors will conclude play in the Holiday Classic by taking on the host Cougars of #15 Cal State San Marcos (9-4).
“They have a very good point guard in senior Danny Redmon, who, as Jeff Azain said, may be a first team All-American,” said Moore. “So we have a challenge to try and contain him. They are very athletic and they have a number of Division I bounce backs.”
The Warriors and Cougars will tip off tomorrow night at seven o’clock.
