SANTA CLARITA – Sixth-ranked Westmont Men’s Basketball (17-3, 5-0 GSAC) won its seventh game in a row with a 75-71 win over Golden State Athletic Conference opponent The Master’s (12-8, 1-4) in Santa Clarita. Neither team managed a double-digit lead at any point in the game.
The outcome came down to Warriors making free throws in the final minute.
“It was a battle,” acknowledged Westmont head coach John Moore. “At times it wasn’t the prettiest game. But our guys were tough-minded and competed, in the second half especially. They are a hungry, hardworking, humble team. If they remain that way, good things are going to happen for them.”
Cooper Damron made a spin move on his opponent and laid the ball in the basketball to give the Warriors a 70-69 lead with 50 seconds to play in regulation. On the Mustangs’ resulting possession, C.J. Miller was called for a foul, sending Chris Patureau to the charity stripe to shoot two with 22 seconds left in regulation. He missed both.
Mantas Drungys grabbed the rebound and passed the ball to Jordan Sachs. Sachs was fouled and swished both of his free throws through the net with 27 seconds to play. That put the Warriors up 72-69. After a missed three- pointer by the Mustangs’ Lance Reeves, Sachs was fouled again, and once again, made both, giving Westmont a 74-69 advantage with 10 seconds left.
Leif Karlberg drove the length of the court for a layup making the score 74-71 with five seconds to play. Fouled once again, Sachs made one more free throw to account for the final score. As a team, the Warriors made 21 of 27 attempts from the free throw line.
Sachs ended the game with 20 points, five rebounds and three assists.
“Jordan is playing like an All-American,” said Moore of the senior who never came off the floor. “I am so impressed with how he is playing.”
C.J. Miller added 17 points and three rebounds. Preston Branson scored 11 points and added four assists. Cooper Damron tallied 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
The Mustangs were led by Derrick Fain who scored 31 points while going 11 of 14 from the field including four of five from beyond the arc.
“We didn’t have any answer for Fain,” said Moore, “but we did a good job of keeping the ball away from him in the last minute.”
In other GSAC games, Hope International (19-2, 4-1) rebounded from its loss to the Warriors on Saturday with a 71-37 drubbing of Biola (11-10, 1-4). Arizona Christian (13-4, 3-2) posted a 90-74 win over San Diego Christian (5-9, 2-3). Concordia’s Peter Smith hit a jumper with ten seconds remaining to give the Eagles (13-6, 2-3) an 82-81 victory over Vanguard (13-7, 2-3).
As a result, Westmont maintains its one-game lead over second place Hope International. Arizona Christian sits in third place, while San Diego Christian, Concordia and Vanguard are in a three-way tie for fourth.
This weekend, the Warriors will make a first trip to Phoenix for their first game against conference newcomer Arizona Christian. The game is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start time in Arizona, 6:30 PST.
